


Not You Again

by arys13



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, F/M, Fanfiction, Félix is basically an Ice Prince lol, I like the name Melodie better than Allegra, Ladybug PV - Freeform, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, Miraculous Ladybug PV, No miraculous AU, Romance, School Life, dance, school bullying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2018-10-27 20:56:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 59,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10816596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arys13/pseuds/arys13
Summary: She was a dancer. She loved helping her parents bake during her free time when she wasn’t studying, dancing, or hanging out with her best gal pal Melodie.He was known as the “Prince” of the school. And boy did he hate being called that. All he wanted was to be the perfect son his father wanted him to be and to mind his own business.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic. My first writing that wasn't for school ever! Hope you guys like it. I don't know about the rating yet because it's still too early.  
> Note on the names, I like the name Melodie better than Allegra (sorry)!  
> I'm new to posting on this site so please bear with me!  
> 

“Bridgette! Get going! You’re going to be late for practice!”

“Okay, I’m almost ready!” Bridgette yelled in answer to her mother downstairs. “If only I can find my other shoe. Tikki, if I find out you hid it again,” she said as she eyed her white cat that was laying on her bed all comfortable like.

Tikki opened one eye and then closed it. “I know you can hear me missy!” Bridgette said as she kept looking for her other lyrical shoe. “Aha! Found it! How did it get under my desk, oh I wonder how?” She eyed her cat again but decided she didn’t have time to scold her. Again.

She wore simple black tights over her leotard and her favorite red long-sleeve with black polka-dots, ladybug inspired tee. She tied her long hair into a high ponytail and added her special red ribbon for a finishing touch. She stuffed her day clothes and dance shoes into her duffle bag, grabbed her pink backpack, and went on her way.

“Okay, I’m going maman!”

***

“Felix, here is your schedule for today.”

“Thank you Natalie. Does father want me home for lunch today?”

“No, he has meetings all day. He also says to go ahead and eat dinner without him as well.”

“Alright, thank you.” Figures. He was busy yesterday and the day before that and will probably be busy tomorrow. Oh well, there was nothing he could do about it anyways.

“Mrow.”

Felix looked down to see his cat tapping his shoes with his paws, eyeing him as if he was asking for something. He bent down to pet him, “What is it Plagg? You know if you’re hungry, just go to the kitchen and they’ll get you something.”

“Mrow!”

*sigh* “You want camembert again don’t you?” Plagg’s tail started waving faster side to side as he heard his favorite word. “It’s too early in the morning, you have to wait until lunch time.”

Plagg’s tail stopped waving and pointed a glare at Felix. “No means no. You’re just going to have to wait.” Plagg looked unamused and scampered away. “So spoiled.”

Felix grabbed his bag and headed to the town car. “Francis, I’ll be staying at the school for lunch today so I’ll only need you to pick me up after school.” Francis nodded and started the car. “Oh, could you also drop me off on the side of the school? I don’t feel like dealing with the crowd this morning.”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you.”

***

“I should probably go through a different entrance. It looks like Felix’s Fan Club is crowding the school’s entrance again. Ugghh! Why do I always have to take the long way to the gym just for his fans? I wish he would tell them something.” Bridgette complained as she turned around to go through the side of the building. If she was late, the teacher was gonna make her do laps like all the other girls who were tardy.

Ever since Felix Agreste started attending public school, his Fan Club crowds the entrance waiting for him to show up. All the girls wanted to give him little gifts, they all wanted to try to talk to him, or at least get a good look at him.

No, not today. Bridgette started running. She made her way towards the side entrance. She jumped over a bush and – _*crash*_ “Aaahh!!”

“Agh!”

“Oww! Oh my god, I am so so so so sorryyy! Are you okay?” Bridgette started to say until she saw who her victim was. Her eyes went wide, “Felix! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

“I will be once you get off of me.” He grunted, trying to ignore the pain he felt when he fell to the ground.

“Oh, right, I’m sorry! Here let me help you up.”

“No need. I can get up by myself.” Felix said as he started to brush off the dirt from his pants. “First, you all keep making crowds around me, and now you’re jumping at me out of nowhere. Honestly, can’t you people take a break?”

Bridgette started to get offended. Like, how dare he confuse me with those fangirls?

“First, I said I was sorry! The proper thing to do is to accept my apology. And two, if it wasn’t for your little fan club, I wouldn’t have to be taking the long way to practice! So before you start –“ Bridgette looked at the time on her phone. “Oh no!! I’m gonna be late!” She grabbed her bag and started running inside like she just wasn’t having a conversation with someone.

***

Felix stared at her as she ran inside. I don’t think he’s ever been told off by someone, let alone a girl from his class. He started remembering what he could have said to set her off like that. Probably clumping her in with his fan club wasn’t the proper thing to say. _*sigh*_ His fan club. He knew it existed, but that doesn’t mean he enjoyed it either. Other than what had just happened, he hoped nothing else would happen for the remainder of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Look forward to more chapters!  
> Tumblr: arys13


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bless Bridgette and Claude's souls.

“Oh man, I’m gonna be sooo sore tomorrow.” Bridgette moaned as she flopped at her desk.

“Girl, I bet! I can’t believe Ms. Leroux made you run ten laps after practice,” said Melodie.

“I was only late 1 MINUTE!” cried Bridgette.

“1 minute can equal 1 hour or 1 day in Ms. Leroux’s book,” giggled Melodie.

“Not helping.” Bridgette pouted as she took out her notebook and pencil. “I blame Felix Agreste.”

“How does Felix fit into this? What did he do?” Melodie was surprised to hear his name. The only people she heard complain about Felix Agreste were the boys in school. They were all jealous that Felix was getting all the girl’s attention.

“Well, first of all, I couldn’t go through the main entrance because of his huge _‘fan club’_ ,” Bridgette started as she made a face and put up her fingers up as she gestured air quotes around the words. “Today was worse than usual so I had to run around to one of the side doors. I was good to go until I bumped into him and knocked him over by accident because I didn’t see him coming.”

“Oh my god, no way! You ran over Felix?!” Melodie squealed. What she would pay to see the _“Prince”_ of the school being knocked over.

“It’s not funny Mel. He was so rude about it even after I apologized.”

“Well to be fair, you did knock him over.”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Haha, just be glad his Fan Club didn’t see otherwise they’d go nuts and get mad at you for knocking over their precious little Prince."

“When aren’t they nuts?” Bridgette giggled as well did Melodie.

“Speak of the devil,” Melodie whispered as Felix walked into the classroom. “Hey Prince, did you have a good fall?”

 _“Melodie! Shh,”_ Bridgette whispered-yelled to Melodie trying to close her mouth.

Felix looked up at both girls, his eyes shifting towards Bridgette. He just sighed and went on his way to his desk.

“I’m gonna kill you Mel,” she said as she glared at her best friend.

Mel giggled, “Oh Bri, you love me too much to kill me.”

“I was gonna share my cookies with you at lunch, but now I don’t think I want to.”

“Nooo! If you’re gonna do that, you might as well just kill me!” Mel exaggerated but at the time same time, Bri’s family’s cookies were to die for. “I’m sorryyy Briii!”  
Bri giggled. She couldn’t stay mad at her forever.

***

Felix could hear the girls giggling from the other side of the room. _*sigh*_ He already guessed Ms. Cheng told her about their incident this morning.

“Hey Felix, what’s up?”

“Hello Claude, good morning to you.”

“Do you know what they’re talking about?” Claude gestured towards the girls.

“No idea and I’m not interested in knowing.”

Claude chuckled. “As always ‘Prince.’”

Felix made a quick glare at him until Melodie came up to their table. “Hey Claude, do you have an extra pencil I can borrow? Bri only brought one.”

“Sure thing, give me a sec,” replied Claude as he searched through his backpack. Luckily for him, he had a spare. “Here ya go.”

“Thank you! You’re a lifesaver!” Melodie exclaimed as she gave Claude a quick hug and then ran back to her seat.

“N-no problem,” Claude nervously said as he blushed.

Felix looked over at his class partner before returning his eyes back to his book.  
Not long after, Ms. Bustier walked in. “Good morning everyone!”

“Good morning Ms. Bustier,” the whole class chimed.

“Please open up your textbooks to Chapter 6.”

***

“Well said Mr. Agreste,” Ms. Bustier said approvingly. “Anyone else would like to share their thoughts?” The whole class fell silent. There’s no way any of them could top Felix. _*brrriinng!*_ Oh thank goodness, the lunch bell rang. “Have a good lunch everyone!”

“Where do you wanna sit today Bri? The usual place?”

“Yeah! You grab our lunches from your locker, and I’ll go save our table.”

“Got it!” Both girls hurried out of the room to beat the crowd of hungry students.

Bri tried to jog but not run because her legs were still tired from dance practice. After her bad luck that morning, luck seems to be on her side now. She managed to snag their favorite table under the big tree in the court yard. It was early October, so it wasn’t too hot or too cold to eat outside. The perfect weather in Bridgette’s book.

“I got here as fast as I could girl. There was more people in the hallways than usual.”

“Really? Even more during lunch?”

“Yeah. I had squeeze my way here and there without ruining our lunches.”

“Good job!” Bri giggled at the thought of possibility of Melodie getting upset if her food got ruined. Mel doesn’t joke when it comes to food. Bri opened her lunch bag to a sandwich her mother made her. She got more excited at the lemon pudding next to it. “Oh look, my mom packed you a pudding too!”

Melodie got excited, “Really? Ugh, I wish your parents would adopt me. I love their cooking!”

Bridgette giggled at the thought of her and Melodie being sisters. But then she would probably have to share clothes with her, and her room, and maybe everything else. Well, not much would change since her and Mel share almost everything, be it a hairbrush or a skirt. Luckily for both, they wore the same size.

“Oh yeah, were you gonna tryout for any sports Mel?”

“Nah, I rather just stick to dancing. It takes most of my time anyways when I’m not babysitting my younger sister. Are you?”

“True. And no, I rather not risk getting injured in something else, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to dance.”

“So true. Remember what happened to Kim last year? Poor boy got hurt and couldn’t play anything for almost 2 months!”

“I know. It was heartbreaking to see someone who couldn’t do what they love.”

“Hey girls, mind if I join?” Claude asked, approaching the girls’ table.

“Sure!” Melodie said gleefully. “Oh thanks again for letting me borrow your pencil. I’ll return it after school.”

“No problem.”

“So Claude,” Bri chimed in. “Do you know why people were crowding the hallways?”

“No clue. The only time I see a crowd are when Felix’s Fan Club get together. But he eats lunch off-campus.”

“Speak of the devil again.” Melodie said as she gestured towards the side of the building.

Felix was walking along the side of the building holding his backpack. And behind him, a couple of girls were stalking him and squealing amongst each other. “I thought he doesn’t stay for lunch?” Bri questioned.

“He doesn’t,” answered Claude. “He looks bothered as always by those girls. Should we invite him over?”

“I don’t mind, but I highly doubt he’ll accept the invitation. You know the Prince, he likes to be alone.”

“I don’t know, especially not after what happened this morning,” Bri said as she made a sour expression.

Claude looked over at Bridgette. “What happened this morning?”

“Oh my gosh, let me tell you!” Melodie said a little too excitingly.

Bridgette slumped and placed her head on the table.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felix can't get a break.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Claude couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“It was an accident!” Bridgette dug her face into her hands.

“I know, right? I still can’t believe it myself.” Melodie chimed in.

“Well if it makes you feel any better Bridgette, he’s gone now. I’m surprised he didn’t go home for lunch though.” Claude wondered.

“Maybe the little Prince wanted to see how regular students eat lunch.” Melodie chuckled as she took a bite out of her special lemon pudding. “Of my gosh Bri, tell your parents thanks for me for this amazing creation.”

“Haha okay, I will.” Bri said gleefully as she took a bite out of her own pudding.

“I’m so jealous. I want pudding too!” Claude pouted as he watched the girls eat their pudding,

“Want me to bring you one tomorrow Claude?”

“Would you?!”

“Of course! If I knew you were gonna join us today I would have asked my mother to pack an extra.”

“Well maybe I should eat lunch with you gals every day?”

“Now hold on,” Melodie started, “if anyone’s gonna benefit from Bri’s parents’ cooking, it’s gonna be this gal right here,” Melodie gestured to herself with her spoon.

“Now now Mel, there will be enough for the three of you,” Bridgette said before Claude could give them his puppy dog look.

“Three of us?” Melodie questioned.

“Yes the three of you. Claude and your two stomachs.” Bri smirked as started to pack up her things.

“Rude,” said Melodie with a smirk on her face as well. “You know me so well.”

The three of them laughed as they were packing up their stuff and started their way back to class.

 

***

_*brrriinng!*_

Oh, thank the lord for the end of lunch bell, Felix thought to himself. He grabbed his backpack and book and stood up from under the tree. He wiped any grass or dirt that could’ve gotten on his pants. He waited a few seconds for his “Fan Club” to leave first so he didn’t have to deal with them on his way back.

As Felix walked through the hallways, a bulletin board caught his eye. WANTED: NEW MEMBERS were printed on many posters for different extracurricular activities. He questioned whether he should get involved in the school and join something. He never really thought about it. Actually, he didn’t even know he was going to be attending public school at all with his strict father over his head. But, it was one of his late mother’s wishes a few years back that he should interact with people his age. Even if he was interested, he doubts his father would let him risk getting injured.

 _*sigh*_ Oh well. He pushed the thought to the back of his head for later, or maybe never. He was almost back at the classroom when suddenly, someone stopped him.

“Hello Felix,” said the female student. “I noticed you stayed at the school today. My name’s Lila Rossi.”

“What can I do for you Ms. Rossi?” Felix said with a neutral tone he was trained to use.

“I was wondering if you would like to join me for lunch tomorrow?”

This isn’t the first time a girl came up to him asking if he wanted to have lunch with them. It was too much trouble for him.

“I apologize but I do not know what my schedule for tomorrow will be like. So I cannot make any promises.” Felix fibbed a little, but knowing how his life is, was it really a lie?

“Oh, well that’s okay. Let me know if you ever have time!” Lila said feeling a little dejected. She walked away to return to her classroom.

Felix wasn’t so sure if he ever felt like making time. Any free time he had, he would rather spend it reading his books. Or hanging out with his cat.

“Quite the heartbreaker, aren’t you Prince?”

Felix whipped his head around to see who was talking to him. And who would even call him ‘Prince’ to his face. God, he hated that name.

“Ms. Moreau, you startled me.”

“’Startled?’ You know, ‘scared’ is a good word to use too.” Melodie teased.

“I have my vocabulary, and you have yours,” Felix retorted. “And please, stop calling me ‘Prince.’ I dislike it.”

“Really? I thought you enjoyed belling called Prince. Almost all the girls in school call you that.”

“Yes, almost everyone.” Felix thought back to girl who just asked him for lunch. But then again, she probably calls him Prince behind his back. The thought made him shiver a little.

“Well, technically you are a ‘Prince,’” Melodie gestured with air quotes. “You’re the heir to the famous Agreste fortune.”

“Who I am is not what I have, or what my father has,” snapped Felix.

“Okaaay, if you say so Mr. Agreste,” Melodie teased as she went inside the classroom.

 _*sigh*_ Felix looked up at the ceiling. Can today be over already?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get tense.

_*brrriinng!*_

Ah, sweet bliss for the after-school bell. As Bridgette was gathering her things together, Ms. Bustier finished with, “Don’t forget to do the end of the chapter problems. It’s due Wednesday.”

“Awww!” The whole class sang, except for Felix.

“At least she gave us two days to do them. Usually we get one night,” Melodie said positively.

“True true,” Bri agreed. “`Do you wanna get together and work on them?”

“Sure if you don’t mind the screaming from my little sister. I have to babysit most of this week because my parents will be working late all week.”

“I think I’ll pass. No offense to your sister.”

“None taken.”

The girls giggled as they walked out of the classroom.

“Should we take the side exit? There’s a high possibility Felix’s Fan Club will be guarding the entrance again,” Bri asked.

“Nah, I don’t feel like taking the long way. If they’re there, I’ll just push them out of the way.”

“Wouldn’t that be a little rude?” Bri asked nervously.

“Us? Rude? They’re rude in the first place for blocking what could be a safety exit. If there’s a sudden fire in here, I am not about to risk my life for those crazy girls! That Prince needs to tell them something.”

“I’ve already tried that.”

Both girls jumped and whipped around to see Felix walking behind them.

“Oh, h-hey Felix,” Bridgette said nervously. She quickly remembered their morning incident and her telling him off. Her face started to burn a little in embarrassment until she remembered he was rude to her too.

Felix’s eyes shifted towards Bridgette until – “Are you sure you told them something? Then why are they still crowding the entrance all the time?” Melodie asked in an annoyed voice. She wasn’t afraid of the ‘Ice Prince.’

“I’ve told them many times to stop their nonsense, but it seems my words go in one ear and out the other.”

Bri giggled, “well that’s a shame.”

“It is. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Felix made his way past the girls.

“Should we see if he’ll be okay?” Bri asked.

“Nah, rich boy is used to this. He’ll be fine.”

Still, Bri thought. It’s not totally his fault. He didn’t make a poster that said ‘Join My Fan Club!’ Bridgette continued walking and Mel followed. They stayed walking behind Felix nearing the entry way towards the squealing girls, until –

“Hey! Quit Pushing!”

“You quit pushing!”

“Ow! You stepped on my foot!”

“I was here first!”

“Fight me then!”

Words started coming into action. And then suddenly, several fights and hair pulling formed in more than one area.

***

Felix froze. His eyes grew wide. He’s never really seen a physical fight in person before. He’s only seen them maybe in movies and such. He didn’t know what to do. Francis was waiting for him outside.

“Alright, that is ENOUGH!” Melodie yelled in her loudest voice towards the girls. She started breaking up fights left and right. “ENOUGH!”

Felix jumped at the loud, yet familiar voice. And then suddenly, he felt someone tug his arm. He jumped in surprise thinking it was one of the fan club girls. Before he could fully look at the person in question, she said, “Come on Felix, this way.” Bridgette said as she lightly pulled him in the opposite direction.

Felix didn’t fight her grabbing his wrist and pulling him away. His feet just followed her wherever she was going.

“I think it’s best if you go through the side exit. Can you text or call your driver to meet you there?” she asked.

“Okay,” Felix said as he pulled out his phone. Lucky for him, Francis replied right away.

“Today’s just not your day, is it?” Bridgette giggled.

Felix stayed silent. He still didn’t know what to make of the situation.

“Hey.”

Felix jumped a little in response to the sudden word.

“I want to apologize again for this morning. I didn’t mean to get so upset.” Bridgette said as she was still pulling Felix along.

“It’s alright. I apologize for being rude.”

“It’s okay,” Bridgette said as she looked back at him and smiled one of her sweet smiles that could make a boy melt. Sadly, it’s gonna take a little more to melt the “Ice Prince,” not that she was going for that.

Felix felt his face heat up a little, just a little, before saying “You can let go of my arm now Ms. Cheng.”

Bri let go of his wrist quickly, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking!”

“It’s fine,” Felix started until his driver showed up at the curb outside. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For pulling me away from, that situation,” Felix said as he gestured in the direction of the front.

“Oh, n-no problem.”

Felix started walking towards his town car as he said, “Have a good evening Ms. Cheng.”

She yelled out to him, “Call me Bridgette, Mr. Agreste!”

Felix turned around.

“See? Not so fun being called by your family’s name, is it?” she teased with a wide grin on her face as she giggled.

Felix stood shocked for a second until he recomposed himself and ducked into the car.

Hmm. Bridgette.

Little did they know, someone was watching the whole scene.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, I wish I could be a cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever watched The Little Mermaid 2?

Bridgette was towel drying her hair when Melodie texted her.

**Mel Mel: Heyyy, I finally put Manon to sleep! Lil girl is gonna be the death of me!!**

**Mel Mel: Anyways, what did you get for question 4???**

“Wow, she’s only on number 4?” Bridgette said to no one in particular. “Then again, I wouldn’t be able to get much done if I was babysitting either. Maybe I should have helped her.”

**Briii: Don’t die on me! I can’t live without you!! lol**

**Briii: Hold on**

Bridgette pulled out her notebook. She continued texting Melodie answers here and there to their homework.

**Mel Mel: THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Luv you!! <3**

**Mel Mel: Gonna turn in for the night! Gn!**

Bri smiled at her phone. Before she went to bed, she figured she should do her nightly stretches. It’s tough to maintain one’s flexibility. “And a one, and a two.”

“Mew.” Tikki waddled over. As Bridgette bent over on the floor to touch her toes, Tikki hopped onto her back.

“Tikki! I’m stretching! Go lay down in your bed.”

Instead of doing as she was told, Tikki started doing her own stretches on her back.

“Oh Ha Ha. Very funny.” Bridgette sat up and Tikki jumped off. Tikki came back over and nudged her head against Bri’s side. _Prrrr_ “Well aren’t you sweet. I still haven’t forgiven you for this morning you know.”

“Mew.”

“Okayyy. Apology accepted. For now.” Bridgette kissed the top of her head and got ready for bed.

***

“Plagg, did you hide my slipper again?”

“Mrow?”

“I know you can understand me.”

Plagg stuck out his tongue and scampered away to Felix’s bed. “You know, maybe I’ll tell the chefs no camembert for you tomorrow.”

“Mrow!” Plagg mewed in complaint. Like how dare he threaten him with his favorite snack.

Felix sighed as he sat next to his cat. “You know, I’ve bought you several toys already. Why do you still steal my stuff?”

Plagg opened one eye, yawned, and then returned to snoozing. Felix placed a hand on Plagg’s head and gave his ear a little scratch. He thought back to what had happened earlier at school that day. Everything happened so fast. His parents put him in some self-defense classes when he was younger, but he never thought the possibility of having to fight off girls from school. Should he say something to the teachers? The Principal maybe? Yeah, maybe he’ll do that tomorrow.

_*knock knock*_ “Felix? May I come in?”

“Yes father.”

Mr. Agreste opened the door. “I heard from Francis there was an incident this afternoon. Is everything alright?”

“Yes father. Everything is fine. Some quarrels happened here and there but nothing too serious.” He hoped. He hadn’t really seen what happened afterwards.

“Do I need to talk to the school’s faculty?”

“No. I already decided to take care of it tomorrow.”

“Alright then. Have a good night.”

“Thank you father. Goodnight.”

Mr. Agreste closed the door behind him as he left. Felix flopped backwards onto his bed, disturbing Plagg making his cat sit up. “Sorry about that Plagg.” Plagg just looked at him and waved his tail. Felix stared at Plagg and imagined if being a cat would make life easier to deal with.

***

_*BEEP BEEP BEEP*_

Felix slowly opened his eyes before slamming his alarm clock off. Usually, he has a neutral opinion about going to school, but after yesterday, he dreaded thinking about going today. Being the ‘perfect son’ that he is, he decided it was best to get it over with. He went through his usual routine of brushing his teeth, combing his hair, and putting on a similar outfit each day. Black pants, a gray, buttoned long-sleeve, a black vest, and a black tie. Every now and then, he wondered if he should wear normal everyday clothes. But knowing his father and his father’s image, it was best if he looked presentable to his name.

“Mrow.”

“Good morning Plagg. Did you sleep well last night?” Plagg just sat and stared at him. Felix debated on whether giving his cat a heads up on the fact that a maid will be by later to give him a bath. He decided against it knowing his cat will just leave and hide.

Felix finished getting ready and headed downstairs for breakfast. Plagg followed.

***

“Well you’re up earlier than usual sweetie.”  
“Well, I didn’t want to be late again, so I figured I would get up at a reasonable time today.” Bridgette said before she took a bite out of her breakfast parfait. She also didn’t wanna run into Felix the way she did yesterday. But she was gonna keep that to herself.

“Oh, before you forget, here’s your lunch. And I put in a few extra puddings for your friend. Claude, was it?”

“Yes maman, thank you!” Bridgette said gleefully as she took her lunch bag.

“Wanna tell me a little more about this Claude boy?” Bri’s mother asked curiously with a sly smile on her face.

“He’s just a classmate maman.” Bri said a little defensively.

“Mhm.” Sabine murmured with a smirk.

Bridgette took a quick peak in her lunch bag. She counted four puddings. Bri fibbed a little saying the fourth one was for Melodie as well. She didn’t feel the need to mention the other boy’s name that it was for to her nosey mother. After yesterday’s incidents, yes, incidents as in plural, as in more than one thing happened at school the day before. Bridgette figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask Felix to sit with them at lunch today. He’s always alone. Even if it was by choice. Well, IF he stayed for lunch today that is. She doubts he wants to stay at school all day considering his fan club.

Bridgette finished her breakfast, grabbed her things, and began on her way. “Okay, I’m going to school now maman!”

“Have a nice day sweetie!”

Bridgette left her home and started walking to school. Luckily for her, school was about a ten-minute walk from where she lived. It looked like a nice day out today.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Bridgette and Melodie chapter. There’s always THAT ONE girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was Free Comic Book Day today! Did anyone else pick up the Miraculous Comic Preview??? <3

“Where is he?!”

“He should have been here by now!”

“Hey quit pushing!”

Bridgette walked up onto the curb at the school. _‘There’s less girls today,’_ she thought to herself. _‘I wonder if there’s less because of the fights yesterday?’_

“Hey girl,” greeted Melodie as she caught up to Bri. “You’re on time today!” She teased.

“Yeah, I didn’t really feel like running extra laps today.” The thought of it made Bri walk faster.

“Chill girl, we’ll get there on time. Especially since there’s not that many girls blocking the front today.”

“Is that because some of them fought yesterday? Oh! I didn’t get to ask. What happened yesterday?”

“Well after you whisked the little Prince away yesterday, some teachers heard the fights and rushed over to help me break them up. Everyone involved was questioned. Some got detention, some suspended, and the rest were let off with a warning. And I, yours truly, was awarded a free tardy pass for my heroic duties.” Melodie grinned a proud smile.

Bri gasped, “Oh my goodness! That sucks.”

Melodie shrugged, “Those girls were bound to get in cat fights sooner or later.”

The girls reached their lockers in the gymnasium. Today, Bridgette wore black tights and a simple white tee. She bent down to take off her shoes, and proceeded to slip on her beige, lyrical shoes. Melodie did the same. Bri checked the mirror in her locker to make sure her hair was still in place, especially her favorite red ribbon.

The girls on the dance team all proceeded to the center of the gymnasium where they did their daily morning stretches.

“Okay girls, spread out!” Shouted Veronica, a senior who was the team Captain.

As the girls stretched in unison, Ms. Leroux walked in. “Good! You’re ALL on time today!” She shouted as she directly looked at Bridgette and a few other girls.

Bridgette felt her face flush and cursed Felix in her mind.

“We’ll do 3 lines and go row by row on leaps, and then we’ll move to pirouettes. Okay? Great!”

The girls gathered at one side of the gym. Bri and Mel placed themselves in the middle line. The first 3 girls leapt away to the other side of the gym. And then the next row, and then it was Mel’s row’s turn. Everyone executed excellent leaps, some better than others, and others even better.

Bri watched Melodie do her leaps and felt a bit proud of her. Then, it was her turn. She stuck her right foot out into fourth position and then _chassed_ into several _grand jetés._ Bridgette loved doing these. It felt like she was flying.

“Excellent work Bridgette!” Ms. Leroux praised. The rest of the girls crossed over, so it was time to switch it up with the opposite leg.

“Ugh, I hate the left leg.” One of the other members murmured low enough so Ms. Leroux wouldn’t hear. Bri understood. It took her a long while to perfect both sides.

Once they were done with that, all the girls moved to the center of the gym. Ms. Leroux started, “Alright, first I want double spins and then I want triples! Okay? Good!”

Good thing all the girls had their doubles down, but only about half the girls could do triples. Mel was in the first category, and Bri was in the latter.

“Keep working on it! Pair up and help each other spot!” Ms. Leroux commanded.

Naturally, Bridgette and Melodie paired up. They were like two peas in a pod.

“Ugh, I almost got the third one!” Mel whined.

“Haha, you’re doing great! Give it another go!” Bri encouraged her best friend.

Sadly, Mel was only able to get two and half spins in.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get it by the end of the semester!”

“You think so?”

 “I do.” Bri said sweetly.

“Alright, now your turn.”

“Okay, here I go!” Bri said before executing three perfect spins.

“I wish I took dance lessons when I was younger.” Melodie pouted.

Growing up, Bridgette’s mother had her take ballet lessons. She wished for her little girl to be a beautiful ballerina one day like any other mothers’ dreams of for their daughters.

“Haha, oh don’t beat yourself down. You’ve improved a lot since the summer.”

“Yeah yeah, now do four spins!” Mel demanded.

Bri chuckled, “Okay.” Again, she executed her spins perfectly.

“Now five!”

“Man you’re a slave driver!” And once again, she did what she was asked.

“Oh my god Bridgette, stop showing off!”

The two girls turned their heads to the negative Nancy that called her out.

“Mind your own business Lila,” Melodie snapped.

Lila rolled her eyes and returned to her partner. Melodie rolled her eyes and turned back to Bri. “You know what, forget her. I want you to do as many as you can! Right here, right now,” Melodie encouraged.

“I don’t know,” she hesitated.

“You know what, I want you to do as many as you can as well.”

Both girls turned to their Captain who overheard them. Bri felt her face heat up a little.

“Me too!” chimed in Rose.

“Me three!” said Mireille.

Bridgette felt her face heat up even more. Eventually she gave in and did what was expected. She prepared herself and did as many turns as she could.

“Oh wow! I can’t believe you can do 7! No wait, 8!” Rose praised in excitement.

“Excellent job Bridge. Keep that up, and you could be an officer next year. Maybe even Captain,” Veronica praised.

Bridgette blushed at the compliments. Especially at Veronica’s comment. After this school year, all the officers, including the Captain, will graduate. Leaving new spots for the next best to come.

“Okay ladies! It looks like we ran out of time for today! Hurry up and change and go to class! I don’t want to hear from your teachers that you were late!” Ms. Leroux shouted. All the girls curtsied towards their dance instructor and ran to the locker room to change.

Bridgette pulled out her wipes to wipe the sweat off her face. She pulled her hair down and tied it into two long pigtails. Melodie’s braid came a little loose so she had Bridgette redo it for her, this time into a fishtail.

“I just love your blonde hair Mel,” Bri said as she adored her best friend’s hair.

“Haha thanks girl!” Mel said appreciatively. “Oh, are you switching from shorts to jeans today?”

“Yeah, it’s starting to get a little cooler outside. Oh yeah, before I forget, let me put my lunch in your locker.”

They finished getting ready and were on their way to class.

*****

_[As of this time, dance practice had just started.]_

Another day, another morning Felix had his driver drop him off at the side entrance. Luckily, none of the girls figured out his alternate route yet. He stepped out onto the sidewalk and proceeded towards the entrance. Before going too far, he stopped and looked both ways. Felix didn’t exactly feel like getting knocked down two days in a row. Once the coast was clear, he headed towards the library to kill time before school officially began. Depending on how his morning goes, he’ll decide whether he stays for lunch or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not worry, we’ll see more of Felix next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this the beginning of a Bromance?

Felix sat at one of the smaller tables in the library towards the far back right. He was reading _‘Romeo & Juliet,’_ one of the recommended books for a high school student his age. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to stay up to date on literature for public schools.

Speaking of age, his 16th birthday was coming up within a month or so. He didn’t really hate his birthday, but every year his father threw medium-sized banquets and invites almost all his business partners. Rather than it being a celebration for his birthday, it was more of a chance for everyone to exchange business cards and ideas. It was also a way for Mr. Agreste to show off his son to his colleagues. His father thought he was doing him a favor, but in reality, it was just another bother to him. It just wasn’t the same as when his mother was around.

_“Look! There he is!”_

_“Oh my gosh, he’s so handsome!”_

_“Should we go talk to him?”_

_“Yeah right! What am I gonna say to him? You go talk to him!”_

_*sigh*_ ‘ _Here we go again.’_ Felix thought to himself. ‘ _Maybe I should invest into some headphones?’_

*****

“Hey Felix, what’s up?”

Felix looked up to the man. “Hello Claude, good morning to you.”

Claude took a seat at Felix’s table. He decided to use this time to work on his homework. Then he noticed the eyes that were staring at their table. “Popular as always I see.” Claude looked back to the girls who were spying on them. He gave them a quick wink. The girls blushed like crazy and looked away squealing to each other.

“Not as popular as you it seems.” Felix said as he shifted his eyes back to his book.

“Nah, I’d say you’re still at the top of the list.” Claude took notice of the book in Felix’s hand. “ _’Romeo & Juliet?’ _I never pegged you for the romance type,” he chuckled.

“I’m not.”

“Do you know how it ends?”

“I believe someone dies? It is Shakespeare,” Felix noted.

“Haha, right. Well let me know when you finish. I’d be happy to discuss it with you.”

“I did not think you to be one into literature.”

Claude laughed a little too loudly for Felix’s comfort. “I may not look it, but I like to read books in my spare time when I’m not playing Tennis.”

“I see.” He didn’t know Claude play Tennis. Felix thought back for a moment to the posters he saw yesterday. “How is Tennis for you?”

Claude froze in a moment of shock. Felix never took the time to ask him about himself. Was he finally opening up to him? ‘ _He doesn’t seem like a bad guy. A bit too serious and a little cold, but not too bad.’_ Claude thought to himself. “It’s really fun!” he said with excitement in his voice. “The training and exercise is a little rigorous, but not too bad that I can’t handle it.”

“Oh, I see.” Felix said nonchalantly, still looking at his book.

“Have you thought of joining any clubs Felix?”

“I’m not really interested. As well, I don’t think my father would approve.”

“How come? Are you bad at sports?” Claude wondered. He still wasn’t sure what type of “rich boy” Felix was. Was he the type to be good at everything? Or was he the type to grow up never having to lift a finger? He seems to be in good shape from what he could tell. But then again, his family can hire personal chefs to make healthy meals so he doesn’t gain weight at all.

“No, he’s concerned about the possibility of me getting injured.”  
“Really? Wow, such a caring parent.” Claude missed the way Felix’s eye twitch a little. “I know you said you weren’t interested, but have you never really thought about getting involved in the school? We all know you were home schooled until this school year, but while you’re here, why not change it up a bit? You can join the Tennis club with me!” He gestured towards himself.

Felix looked up from his book towards the book shelves. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about it. But he just wasn’t interested in interacting with so many people. He thought back to when he was 10 years old. His family use to play Tennis and Badminton together. When his father actually spent time with them.

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Well that’s too bad. Let me know if you ever change your mind.” Claude said with a little hope in his mind. He picked up his phone to check the time. “Looks like it’s time to go to class.” Claude packed up his stuff and stood up. Felix did the same. Both boys were on their way to class. Felix ignored the squealing girls as they walked past them.

 _‘Don’t they ever catch a break?’_ He thought to himself. _*sigh*_

“You alright dude?” Claude looked over at Felix in question.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just don’t know what to do about these people.”

“Who? Your fan club? I heard about the incidents yesterday during practice. One of our members came running over talking about how there was a fight going on in the school. What happened?”

Felix thought back to the day before again. He’s thought about it at least twenty times since it happened. Felix scrunched up his nose a little, “I don’t really know. It all happened so fast.”

Claude didn’t ask him any further. It looked like he didn’t really want to talk about it so he dropped it for now.

*****

Bridgette and Melodie were sitting at their table waiting for class to start. They were comparing what they had so far on their homework.

“I couldn’t get much done because I spent a lot of time chasing a two-year-old.”

Bridgette chuckled, “Aw, you poor thing. Want me to come over after school and help you?”

Melodie turned to Bri and grabbed her shoulders, “Would you?!”

“Of course. What are friends for?”

“Have I ever told you how much I loved you?” Melodie gave Bridgette a big hug. Both girls couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well aren’t you two in such a good mood this morning.”

Both girls turned. “What’s up Claude?” Melodie acknowledged.

“Hey,” Bridgette greeted.

“Nothin’ much. Same old same old.” Claude stopped at the girls’ table. Both took notice that he had been walking with Felix. Felix paid no attention to the girls and went about his way to his seat.

“When did you and Felix get so chummy?” questioned Mel.

Claude looked over his shoulder and then back to the girls. “Why? Did we look chummy?” He said with a cheesy grin.

Bridgette looked over at Felix. She wondered how he was doing considering what happened. _‘There’s less girls today.’_ She remembered. _‘I wonder if he noticed? I wonder if it made a difference?’_ Bri looked to Claude, “Will you be joining us for lunch again? I’ve got a special surprise for youuu. ♪”

“Surprise?” Claude looked confused.

“Yup! I got an extra pudding for you.”

He got excited. “Really?!” He was so adorable. It looked like he wanted to jump for joy.

“You brought one for me too, right, Bri?” Mel teased.

“Of course,” she giggled. _‘And a fourth one,’_ Bridgette thought to herself, but that could wait until later.

“Good morning!” Ms. Bustier greeted.

“Good morning.” The class sang.

“Catch you girls later.” Claude said as he went to his seat.

Bridgette directed her attention towards her bag to pull out one of her erasers. She missed the way Melodie’s eyes followed him as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I wonder if people think about how I don’t write about Bridgette being into Fashion and Fashion Designing. I just didn’t. I’ve read all kinds of stories about Bridgette and Marinette going into fashion. I just wanted to change it up a bit. :)
> 
> ALSO, I might have accidentally made Claude the new “Sunshine Child” lol (Sorry Adrien!) (You had your chance Felix.)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today didn’t go exactly as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest chapter I have typed so far. Lol enjoy!

Two hours into class time. _*brriinng brriinng brriinng*_ The classroom’s telephone rang. Ms. Bustier went over to pick it up. “Bustier, hello? Yes, he’s here. Sure thing. Goodbye.” She hung up the phone. “Mr. Agreste, they would like to see you in Mr. Damocles’ office.”

Everyone turned their heads towards Felix. “Alright.” Felix said as he grabbed his things and stood. As he walked out the classroom, several students started whispering and murmuring.

_“What did he do?”_

_“I heard a lot of girls got into trouble over him yesterday.”_

_“It must be about that.”_

Felix ignored the side comments and kept walking. About 2 minutes later, he reached the principal’s office. “You wanted to see me Mr. Damocles?”

“Ah, Mr. Agreste, you’re here. Good. I would like to talk to you in the matters that happened yesterday. Please have a seat.” Mr. Damocles gestured towards the chair in front of his desk.

“Alright.” Felix nodded. He placed his bag down by his feet and sat down.

“First, I would like to hear your side of the story about what happened yesterday. Just so I have more of an understanding of the situation.”

“Yes sir. School had just ended, and I was on my way towards my family’s town car. I was near the entrance when the female students started becoming aggressive towards each other. Words were said, and then the outbreak began.”

“And you didn’t happen to say anything to them before the outbreak?”

“No sir. I was only walking.”

“I see. It appears a lot of the female students pay special attention to you.” Mr. Damocles said as he stroked his beard.

“Actually, I was meaning to speak to someone about that.”

“Oh, really? What is it?”  
“I was wondering if there was a way to stop the students from gathering around me. As well as in other certain places. Just about every morning, they block the entrance to the school. It is not only a burden to me, but to the other students as well.” Felix thought back to Bridgette, and how she also had to take an alternate route. And it’s not like he didn’t hear all the whispering complaints from the other students either.

“I see. Alright, I’ll send out a memo to all the female students that were brought in for questioning. I’ll also send out a memo to all the classrooms by the end of the day. Thank you, Felix.”

“Thank you sir. Will that be all?”

“Yes. Oh, wait, Ms. Cheng is in your class I believe?”

Felix looked at Mr. Damocles with eyes wider than he usually had them at. He thought to himself, _‘What does Ms. Che-I mean Bridgette have to do with this. She didn’t do anything.’_ “Yes, she was in my class today,” he answered anyways.

“When you go back to class, could you tell Ms. Bustier to send her in here for me?”

“May I ask why? She didn’t have anything to do with the incident.”

“I see. I just was told Ms. Cheng was there as well by an anonymous source. We’re just questioning everyone that was there. Including students who weren’t involved.”

“She was there. But she had no connection to the outbreak. Her and Ms. Moreau were walking behind me as we were leaving the school. As well, if anything, she assisted me in escaping the outbreak.”

“Really? Well that was nice of her. Is that all?”

“Yes sir.”

“Then disregard what I said about calling her here. You may return to class. I’ll see to it about the memos and other students. Thank you.”

“Yes sir. Thank you.” Felix grabbed his bag and went on his way back to the classroom.

On his way back, he noticed a couple of female students were in a hurry to somewhere. Luckily for him, they didn’t notice him. Whatever it was, he just hoped it had nothing to do with him.

*****

The lunch bell had just rung and Bridgette was on her way to reserve their favorite table outside. On her way, she felt something was off. She didn’t know what until she looked around her. Several girls were glaring at her. She didn’t recognize these girls. What could she have possibly done to them?

“Alright, I’m here!” Melodie said as she sat down with their lunches. “Now may I please I have my pudding?” She looked to Bri with a huge grin.

Bri giggled, “Sure.” She pulled out a lemon pudding from her lunch bag and handed it to Mel.

“Is there one in there for me too?” said Claude as he sat down at the girls’ table with an expecting look.

“Yes yes, give me a sec.” Bri said as she was pulling out her sandwich and water from her bag.

“Oh, look. There’s Felix. Should we invite him over?” Claude said turning to his direction.

Melodie looked over at Felix walking along the side of the building. “Sure. I don’t have a problem with that. Bri?”

Bri looked up from her bag towards the man in question. “Yeah, of course, I don’t mind.”

“Okay cool. I’ll be right back. Watch my bag for me.” Claude got up and lightly jogged towards Felix.

“What do you think he’ll say?” questioned Melodie.

“I honestly don’t know. Felix is like a closed book,” Bri said opening her water bottle.

Both girls watched Claude ask Felix to have lunch with them. They see Claude’s arms gesture towards them. Felix looked towards the girls’ table. It looked like he was trying to decline. But it didn’t look like Claude was taking no for an answer. They see Felix blow out a large exhale breath. Then they see both boys walking back towards their table.

“ _Oh my god he said yes_?!” both girls whisper-yelled to each other at the same time low enough so they wouldn’t hear.

“JYNX! You owe me a frappe!” Melodie grinned at Bri.

“What?! No fair! I didn’t know that was a thing!” Bri was in shock.

“What isn’t a thing?” asked Claude as he sat down.

“Nothing! What up Prince?” Melodie teased.

Felix darted his eyes towards Melodie as he sat down in front of Bridgette. “I thought I told you to not call me that.”

“Right, sorry! ♪” Mel apologized with a little musical tone in her voice.

“Hello Felix,” Bridgette greeted.

“Hello,” Felix greeted back.

“So what made you stay at school for lunch? I thought you always went back home?” asked Melodie.

“Nothing really. I just didn’t feel the need to go back home is all,” said Felix as he took his lunch out from his bag.

“Oh, right! Here’s your pudding Claude,” said Bridgette as she handed Claude his lemon pudding.

“Oh my gosh thanks so much Bridgette!” Claude bounced up from his seat and went over to give Bridgette a big hug.

“Haha, it’s nothing. My mother didn’t mind.”

“Your mother is a blessing! Tell her I said thank you!” Without thinking about it, Claude gave Bridgette a quick peck on the cheek as thanks. Bridgette froze as she blushed.

“I-it w-was n-nothing,” she managed to stammer out.

Both Melodie and Felix paused for a second. Especially Melodie. She returned her eyes back to her food.

“Sorry sorry, bad habits from my parents.” Claude chuckled as he returned to his seat and scratched the back of his neck. He took off the foil from his pudding cup and took a bite.

“How is it?” asked Bri.

“Oh my gosh this is amazing!”

“Right?” Melodie chimed in as she took a bite from her pudding.

“U-um, I have an extra if you want one too Felix?” Bridgette held out a cup in Felix’s direction.

Felix stared at the cup. He was still for a moment. He didn’t really expect getting food from someone else. Well, besides all the sweets his fan club offers him every other day. “What is it?” He decided to ask.

“I-it’s homemade lemon pudding. My parents are bakers.”

Felix kept staring at the cup with a curious look. He was debating in his head whether to take it or not.

“You don’t have to take it if you don’t want it.” Bri’s face started to flush in embarrassment.

“If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it,” Melodie said as she took another bite from her cup.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try it.” Felix said as he took the cup from Bridgette’s hand. He gave it another curious look before setting it down next to his food.

“You won’t regret it!” Claude chimed in as he was finishing his cup.

It was a secret to everyone, but in reality, Felix rather enjoyed sweets when he was allowed them. He opened the cup and took his first bite. His eyes grew a little wider as he stared at the pudding. He couldn’t describe it in words how good it tasted.

“How is it?” Bri asked nervously.

“It’s good.” Felix said simply.

“That’s good!” Bri sighed in relief.

Bridgette took out her own pudding cup and set it beside her sandwich. In a quick second, it dawned on the other three that Bridgette had FOUR cups, when they thought it was only going to be the three of them. _‘Had she expected him to sit with us?’_ Claude and Melodie thought to themselves. _‘Was she expecting me?’_ Felix thought to himself. No one said anything and continued eating. They decided to just leave it as it was since she was kind enough to bring everyone one.

It was a little quiet. Melodie decided to break the silence. “So how’s Tennis club Claude?”

“Oh, it’s so fun! They told me I have a shot at being Captain or Co-Captain next year!” He looked so escited.

Melodie gave a little clap. “Really? That’s awesome!”

“When’s your first match?” Bri asked.

“We don’t play official matches until Spring. Right now, we’re just in training.”

“That’s so far.”

“Eh, it’s not too bad.” Claude shrugged. “How’s the dance team for you ladies?”

“Oh it’s so much fun.”

“I love it!” Both girls exclaimed at the same time.

Felix looked at them. “You both dance?” This was news to him. Although, he’s not surprised he didn’t know since he barely talked to anyone besides Claude. Only because they sat next to each other. “Does that explain why you were in a rush yesterday morning Bridgette?” Felix asked as he took a sip of his coffee from his travel mug.

Bri felt her face heat up a little at the memory, “Uh, yeah. Our practices are early in the morning before school.”

Mel darted her eyes towards Bri. _Since when did Felix call someone by their first name other than Claude?_ She thought to herself.

“Really? Is that why I don’t see you guys in the morning? Our Tennis practices are in the afternoon.” Claude chimed in.

“Oh? Were you looking for us before?” Mel teased.

“I’ll admit I was looking for you guys because I needed help with some of the homework before.” Claude blushed while he scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh really? I’m sorry,” Bri apologized. “If you’d like, Mel and I can give you our numbers if you ever need help?” she offered.

“Really?! That would be awesome!” Claude was basically bouncing in his seat. He pulled out his phone and handed it to Bri. Bridgette took the phone and typed in her number. When she was finished, she handed it to Melodie. Melodie took the phone and started putting in her number when –

“You should put your name as Mel Mel.” Bri teased.

Mel started to blush, “Oh ha ha, no thank you. Melodie is just fine.”

Claude was curious and chuckled, “Mel Mel?” Mel blushed even more.

“Yeah, that’s what her name is in my phone,” Bridgette teased.

“Why do I recognize that name?” Claude lifted a finger to his chin as he started thinking.

And as if Melodie couldn’t blush any more. Bridgette answered, “You ever watched The Little Mermaid? The second movie?”

“OH! That’s where I heard it! That’s so cute!” Claude couldn’t stop laughing.

“H-here you g-go,” Mel nervously said as she handed the phone back to Claude.

“Thanks!”

“We sent a text to our phones so we can save your number as well.”

“Oh okay, cool. So, what’s it like to practice in the morning?”

“It makes you a little tired throughout the day but it’s not a big deal once you get used to it,” answered Bridgette.

“You ever thought about drinking coffee?”

“I’m not a big fan of coffee. It’s a little too bitter for my taste. I’m more of a hot chocolate person,” Bri giggled.

“I feel it to be a necessity.” Felix added. Everyone looked to Felix. He was so quiet they almost forgot he was there.

“Is that what you’re drinking now?” Claude asked.

“Yes.”

Melodie decided to use this opportunity to ask, “So Felix. Why don’t you try to make friends?”

_“Mel!”_ Bri hit Melodie’s arm lightly as if she said something she shouldn’t have.

“What? I’m curious!”

“I just find it troublesome,” said Felix.

“What am I, invisible?” Claude threw his arms forward and to the side jokingly looking offended. Before he realized it, and before anyone could react, he accidentally knocked over Felix’s coffee, making it fly a little towards Bridgette.

“Oh my gosh!” Bridgette yelped as she jumped out of her seat.

“Oh my gosh Bridge! I am so sorry!! I’m sorry to you too Felix!” Claude started to panic.

“That’s alright. I was almost done with it anyways,” Felix said as he started to wipe the table with his cloth napkin.

“Well it may be alright for you, but not for Bridgette’s shirt,” Mel said as she used her napkin to help clean up Bri.

“I’m okay. At least it wasn’t hot.” Bri chuckled.

“I apologize as well Bridgette,” said Felix.

“It’s okay. I’ll be right back though. I have a stain stick and an extra shirt in my locker. Watch my stuff Mel?”

“Sure thing.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Bri jogged towards the building in the direction of the Girl’s Locker room. A girl must always be prepared, she thought to herself. Bridgette made her way to her locker. She twisted her lock with its combination code and successfully opened it on first try. A folded piece of paper slipped out of her locker when she opened it. “What’s this?” Bridgette picked up the piece of paper and unfolded it. It suddenly felt like the whole world froze around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to tell if someone is reading your story or not haha


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What are friends for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished with finals for this semester. :)

Melodie, Claude, and Felix were finishing up their lunch.

“She’s taking quite a while, isn’t she?” Mel asked looking towards where Bridgette ran off to.

“I guess she is,” Claude answered.

“Our lockers weren’t that far. She should be back by now.”

“Is it taking that long to clean her shirt?” Claude looked over and then down at his legs feeling more upset.

“Maybe? I should probably go check on – oh, there she is!”

Bridgette was walking back towards the table. “I’m back.”

“Hey girl. Why the long wait?” Mel questioned.

“Oh, I stopped by the restroom on my way back. There was a line.”

“Bridgette, once again, I am so sorry,” Claude apologized.

“It’s okay. I had a backup tee shirt.” She pulled down on her shirt so they could get a better look. “A girl’s always gotta be prepared, right?” she chuckled lightly. She sat down to finish what was left of her lunch and remained quiet for the rest of the time. Or at least she tried not to draw attention to herself while Melodie and Claude talked away about some movies they saw. Felix couldn’t help but notice the silent girl.

*****

It was the last ten minutes of class.

“To finish off the day, we were told to pass out these notices. Please read and abide by them. We don’t want yesterday to repeat.” Ms. Bustier passed out the papers to her class. “And remember, your homework that is due tomorrow.”

Felix already knew what it was. He felt a hint of relief. The rest of the class started murmuring to each other. The usual code of conduct was typed on the paper with the basic, ‘Don’t Crowd Into Large Groups,’ to ‘Please Be Considerate of Other People,’ and to ‘Please Consider a Person’s Personal Space,’ and the consequences if they were to break the rules. Felix could only hope every class received these papers.

“Well this is somewhat convenient for you, isn’t it Felix?” Claude said to him.

“It helps, yes.” Felix started packing up his bag as well did Claude. With a couple of minutes left in class, they had some free time.

*****

“Hey Bri, should we walk with Felix to make sure everything stays okay like yesterday?”

Bridgette tensed up a bit. “I don’t know. I think we’ll just bother him. Besides, I don’t think he needs us to be his bodyguards. Those notices were passed out to the whole school. I don’t think they would make the same mistake two days in a row.”

“True, but you may never know.”

“If you’re worried, you can ask him. I’m gonna go to the locker room to grab my things,” Bridgette said as she was packing her backpack.

Melodie looked at Bridgette. She wasn’t the type to turn down helping someone. “I guess he’ll be fine on his own. But just in case, maybe I’ll ask Claude. Hold one.” Melodie pulled out her phone. Claude sat up in his seat at the feeling of his phone vibrate in his pocket.

 **Melodie: Hey Claude, do you have time after school today?**  
**Claude: For what? And no, I have Tennis practice after school remember?**  
 **Melodie: Yea, but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind walking with the Prince to make sure he leaves okay**

**Melodie: Ya know, just in case he’s caught up in another fight?**

**Claude: Oh right. Okay, I suppose I could spare a few minutes to do that**

**Melodie: Thnx!**

Claude tried to think of a topic to make conversation with Felix.

*****

*brrriinng!* There goes the bell.

Everyone got up and headed outside.

Claude stayed close to Felix to continue their conversation.

“So Felix, back to what we were talking about this morning. Any chance you reconsidered?”

“Reconsidered what?” He replied with an uninterested tone.

“About joining the Tennis club of course!”

“Oh. No. I have better things to make use of my time.”

“Oh, like what?

“Mandarin lessons. Piano lessons. Business lessons.

“More school after school? You’re learning Mandarin?”

“Yes. My father believes learning multiple languages will provide more use in the future.”

“And the piano lessons?”

“He wants me to appreciate the arts.”

“And the business lessons?”

“He wants me to be useful with the company.” Felix’s gaze went a little more into the distance.

“Man, you must have a lot of fun.”  
“I don’t need fun.”

“You sure? You sure look like you could loosen up a bit.”

Felix whipped his head towards Claude. “Look, not all of us can have it easy. We all have different lives to live. Not everything is happy and rainbows.”

Claude was taken aback at his reaction. “But, are you happy?”

Felix paused in his steps. He didn’t know what to say. It was rare he was asked a question he couldn’t answer. He doesn’t think he’s ever been asked something like that. He continued walking.

“Felix? I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me to say.” Claude continued walking with him.

“No. It’s fine.”

Claude decided to drop the topic and change the mood. “Well, you’re already top of the class,” he started. “Would you at least like to check out the group?”

“No thank you. My driver is waiting for me.”

“Okay cool. Let me know if you ever change your mind alright?” He said with a huge grin on his face. For some reason, Claude didn’t want to give up.  
They reached the front of the building. For the first time since the school year started, there wasn’t a girl waiting for Felix at the entrance. Felix was relieved.

“Later dude!” Claude waved goodbye.

“Goodbye.” Felix said as he left Claude towards his town car.

Claude pulled out his phone to text Melodie.

 **Claude: Nothing happened. Everything’s okay!** (with a thumbs up emoji)

**Melodie: Awesome! Thnx again!**

He put away his phone and headed towards the Boy’s Locker room to get ready for practice.

*****

“Sir, your father has asked me to drive you to his company’s building straight after school this afternoon.”

“Alright. Do you know what for?”

“No, sir.” Francis said as he drove off.

Felix wasn’t sure what his father wanted to say that couldn’t wait until he got home. He decided not to question it. The drive to his father’s building took a while, so he sat there with his thoughts. Thinking back, his day was okay, compared to other days.

They finally reached his father’s building. Nathalie greeted them and escorted Felix inside.

“Ah, you’re here.” Mr. Agreste acknowledged.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes. I still have a lot of things to do today so I’ll be staying here late tonight. I wanted to speak to you now since I don’t know when I’ll be home. Were you able to talk to the school today about yesterday’s incidents?”

“Yes father. I spoke to Principal Damocles and he fixed the issue.”  
“Good. So, there will be no more problems then?”

“No sir.” _At least not for now,_ Felix thought to himself. He didn’t feel the need to bother his father any more than this.

“Alright, thank you, that will be all. Nathalie will escort you out.” Mr. Agreste gestured to the door.

“Yes sir.” Short and simple. Not surprising. Felix followed Nathalie out and had Francis drive him home.

*****

“No Manon! Don’t touch that! NO! Don’t touch that either!” Melodie screamed as she kept a vase and a lamp from falling over. Bridgette couldn’t help but laugh. “If you have time to laugh, then you have time to help me!”

“Okay okay. Come here Manon!” Bridgette started chasing after the toddler. Manon was going through her terrible two’s, so she was a bit too much to handle for two teenage girls. “Waah!” Bridgette screamed as she tripped over one of Manon’s dolls. “Oh my god that hurt,” Bri said as she tried to rub the pain away.

“You okay?” Melodie asked finally catching the little trouble maker.

“Yeah, I think so.” They finally managed to calm down the toddler with a snack and her favorite show. They walked to the table and pulled out their homework. After about an half in, Bridgette figured now would be a good time to bring up what she found in her locker.

“Hey, Mel? Can I talk to you about something?”  
“Yeah girl, what is it?” Melodie was looking at her notebook trying to answer more of the questions.

“I found this in my locker during lunch.” Bri took out the said folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” Mel questioned as she opened it. “What the hell is this?” Melodie read the paper out loud, “ ** _STAY AWAY FROM FÉLIX OR ELSE YOU CAN KISS DANCING GOODBYE!!!_** Or else what? Are they gonna get you kicked off the team? Is this a threat letter?!” Mel looked up at Bri.

“I don’t know.” Bridgette couldn’t help but look down. Mel noticed her hands were shaking on her lap. “I don’t think I did anything wrong?” She continued.

“Okay, think back. Who would write something like about Felix?”

“I don’t know. One of his fan girls?”

“Can you think of anyone specific?”  
“No, there’s so many of them.”

“Okay, so they put this in your locker. Which doesn’t help because all our names are on our lockers. Now I regret everyone decorating them over the summer.” Mel rolled her eyes.

“And by now almost everyone knows we’re on the dance team.” Bri grabbed Melodie’s shoulders, “I can’t get kicked off Mel! I just can’t!

“Deep breaths Bri.”

“Now that I recall, at the beginning of lunch, I got a couple of stares from random girls.”

“Stares like how?”  
“Like, they were glaring at me. Like, they were mad at me about something.”

“Mad about what? About Felix? We barely even talk to him. I mean, other than lunch today, but that’s about it. And we were all sitting with him at the table, so how come only you got this letter?”  
“I don’t know,” Bri grimaced.

“But what can they possibly do really? All the teachers like you. You’re one of their favorite students. You have the next best scores after the Ice Prince.” She giggled.

“Yeah but, you may never know.”

“Should we talk to the teachers about this? I mean, it’s up to you. I got your back no matter what.”

“Should we?” Bri was so nervous.

“I think we should in case anything happens in the future. We should say something while it’s still early and before it gets out of hand.”  
“Okay. Which one? Ms. Leroux? Ms. Bustier? The Principal?”

“I think all three. Ms. Leroux is our dance instructor. Ms. Bustier is our homeroom teacher. And Mr. Damocles is basically in charge of the school. I mean, he had those papers passed out to EVERYONE in school regarding the little Prince.”

“I suppose so. Okay, I’ll do that. Will you come with me?” Bridgette looked up at Melodie.

“Of course! Like I said, I got your back girl!” Melodie drew Bri in for a big hug.

“Thanks Mel. By the way, why do you keep calling Felix ‘Prince’? You know he doesn’t like that.”

“I don’t know. Every other girl called him that so it just caught on. It’s got a nice ring to it and it suits him. Plus, I enjoy watching his cool attitude deteriorate a little,” she giggled.

Bridgette smirked, “You’re weird, you know that?” She chuckled. “Okay, now let’s get this homework done.”  
“Yes! PLEASE!”

*****

The next day, both girls went about their day. After practice, they talked to Ms. Leroux. Before class started, they spoke to Ms. Bustier. And after they ate their lunch, they went to see the principal. Luckily for Bridgette, all of them understood the situation.

“I will send a phone call to all parents. I will not let this foolishness slide in my school.”  
“Thank you Mr. Damocles.” Bridgette felt a sigh of relief.

“Please come see me if this matter continues.”

“Yes sir. Thank you.” Both girls headed back to their classroom. They really hoped nothing else would happen.

Felix went home for lunch today. This took some weight off Bridgette’s shoulders. Whoever gave her that note must have misunderstood the situation. She still doesn’t know if it had to do with him eating lunch with them. She felt bad at being happy that he wasn’t around, but how else would one feel? She kind of needed the space from Felix, not to be mean.

As well, Felix had to have another talk with his father. Apparently, his father had gotten that phone call as well and was not too thrilled. Felix wondered for a bit about what could have happened for this message to be sent straight to the parents of the school. For a split second, he remembered Bridgette being quiet during the remainder of lunch. No, that was too much of a coincidence. He decided to leave the matter alone for now.

The rest of the week went by with no incident. Thankfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is possibly my favorite so far <3 <3 <3


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe there's more to a person than meets the eye.

It was Saturday afternoon. Bridgette was down at the bakery helping her parents. She oversaw the cash register while her parents baked and sorted out more pastries.

“Thank you for coming! Welcome!” Bridgette felt as if someone pressed the repeat button on her back. She lost count of how many times she said these words.

“Okay Bridgette. I think we’ll be okay from here on out. You can go back upstairs if you’d like.” Her mother came in to relieve her of her duties.

“You sure?”  
Sabine chuckled, “Yes sweetie. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay maman!” Bri pecked her mother on the cheek and headed upstairs.

She went up to her room to find her adorable white cat, “Tikki!” The little white fur ball came from under her desk when her name was called. “Wanna take a bath?”

“Mew!” Tikki started waving her tail a little faster.

“Come on missy.” Bri picked up her cat and went downstairs towards the bathroom.

It was a blessing that she somehow got maybe the only cat that didn’t hate water. It made bathing her that much easier. When she finished, she wrapped a towel around her and took her to the living room so she could be dried. “You are so precious when you’re not hiding my stuff,” she cooed as she kissed Tikki’s cheek.

“Mrow.” Tikki’s blue eyes met her owners before she closed them and let out a purr.

*****

“Plagg! What did you do?!”

Felix grabbed his cat off the floor from the sack of flour. The chefs alerted him that Plagg had somehow snuck into the kitchen and started clawing at the sack of flour. “You just had a bath earlier this week!” Felix grunted. He removed the feline from the kitchen and headed towards his room. He went into his private bathroom and locked the door. Plagg immediately tried to get out of his grip. No luck. Felix had his black, who was now completely white, fur ball tucked securely under his arm.

As he ran the water in the bathtub, he went and grabbed a towel. Knowing his cat, it was about to get a little messy.

“Mrow!!!”

“Well who was the one that got dirty? We wouldn’t have to do this if you had just behaved, now would we?”

“Mroowww!” Plagg let out a whine. It was a fight as Plagg kept struggling to get free. Felix struggled to keep one hand on the cat and using the other to rinse him off.

Not long later, he had his cat black again. Felix proceeded to dry him with a towel. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Mrow,” Plagg meowed in annoyance to the question that didn’t need an answer.

Now Felix had to change out of his current clothes because he was covered in flour and was wet from the cat bath. He had to change anyways because he was attending a business dinner with his father later that evening. His father thought it would be best for Felix to accompany him every now and then so he could get a feel of the business.

He always knew where his life was headed. Mr. Agreste was the type of man to have everything planned, including his son’s future. Felix was fully prepared for this. But sometimes…the air felt just a little too tight to breathe through.

*****

Later that evening, it finally became dark out. Bridgette felt it to be a good idea to water the plants on her balcony. While she did that, she tried to pick a movie to watch in her head for when she was done. Her parents had decided to go out on a date that night.

“Meow.”

“Tikki? Go back inside!”

Tikki became curious and started prancing to the bars that kept people from falling over. Before Bridgette could get to her fast enough, a white butterfly showed up. It fluttered over the edge of the rails and Tikki followed. She jumped on the rails.

“Tikki NO! Get down from there!” She begged. But Tikki was too fascinated by the butterfly. She jumped down the building to chase after it.

“TIKKI!!!” Bri cried. She quickly went back down into her room, put on her shoes, and ran out of her home to find her. _WHY WHY WHY!?_ Bridgette screamed in her head.

*****

Felix was in his town car on his way to meet his father and colleagues for dinner. Usually he was okay, but tonight he just wanted it to be over with. He stared out the window until he noticed someone coming from the corner. _‘Who goes out for a run this late?’_ he thought to himself. Before he looked away, he was able to make out the person’s face. It was Bridgette. She was running frantically with a scared look on her face.

“Bridgette?” he said to himself. “Pull over.”

Francis had a confused look on his face, “But sir, what about your father?”

Felix wanted to shout ‘He can wait!’ But even he knows his father doesn’t wait for no one, maybe not even him, but still – “It doesn’t matter, pull over next to that girl.”

“Yes sir.”

Bridgette had stopped at the corner. She looked left, right, up, forward, and in all other directions.

Felix stepped out the car, “Bridgette?”

Bridgette jumped at the sound of her name. She whipped her head around to find him. Felix paused in shock. She was crying. Now that he had a better look at her, he noticed what she was wearing. She was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt and plain house shorts with some converse.

“F-Felix?”

Felix regained his senses. “Are you alright?” He looked back behind him to see if someone was chasing after her. He turned back forward and walked towards the scared girl.

“M-my cat…” she started. “My cat is m-missing,” she managed to get out as more tears started to drop down her face.

“Your cat?”

“Y-yes.” She tried wiping her tears away with her hands, but she wasn’t successful.

“Here,” Felix handed her his handkerchief from his pocket.

“Th-thank you,” she used the soft cloth to wipe her eyes.

“So what happened with your cat?”

“She ran off. We were outside, there was a butterfly, and now I can’t find her!” She started crying and panicking all over again.

Felix grabbed her shoulders, “Breathe Bridgette, take deep breaths.” Bridgette stared at him.” After a few seconds, she calmed down a bit. “Good, now, do you want me to help you look?”

Bridgette paused and looked up at him. “I-It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

“It’s fine.”

She hadn’t expected this at all. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. We’ll take my town car and drive around. What does your cat look like?”

“U-um, she has white fur, blue eyes and a pink collar around her neck.”

“Okay.” He turned back and walked around the car over to Francis’ window.

Bri stood there not knowing what to do. She couldn’t make out what they were saying. It looked like they were having a small argument. She started to feel bad. Felix walked back to the other side of the car and opened the passenger’s door.

“Get in.”

“Are you sure?” She hesitated.

“Yes,” he assured her.

“Thank you.” She walked over and entered the passenger’s seat. He entered after and sat next to her.

“Okay let’s go.” He looked at his driver who nodded in return.

As time passed, there were fewer people on the streets. Every now and then, they would ask random pedestrians if they had seen the white cat. There was a lot of disappointment. They kept going. Bridgette noticed Felix’s phone vibrate a few times. Now that she had a better look at him, he was dressed up more than usual. A sense of guilt stirred in her chest.

“Were you going somewhere tonight?” She asked him.

He looked back at her. “Why do you say that?”

“U-um, well, your clothes.” She pointed at his coat.

Felix looked down at himself. “Oh. No, nothing important really,” he lied.

She didn’t believe it but she let it go. She looked back to her side of the window. It was so dark outside. _I hope she’s okay,_ she thought to herself.

Felix noticed she started to shiver. He just remembered, it was mid-October. The days and nights were getting cooler. She must have been too worried about her cat to grab a jacket. Or pants for that matter.

He started taking off his coat. “Here.” He held up the coat to Bridgette. She looked back at him with a confused look. “It’s cold out.” He offered again.

“Oh, n-no, it’s okay. You might be cold.”

“It’s fine. I’m already covered up without it. But you could use another layer,” he said looking away.

Bridgette looked down at herself. Heat welled up in her face as she started to blush. She quickly grabbed the coat and wrapped it around herself. “Th-thank you,” she stuttered. _How embarrassing_ , she thought to herself.

Francis pulled over for Felix to ask another pedestrian if they had seen her cat. “…really? Okay, thank you. He said they saw a white cat by the Central Plaza’s fountain.”

“Really?!” Bridgette sat up to the good news.

“Yes. Let’s hope it’s the one we’re looking for.” Francis drove a little faster towards the Central Plaza. When they arrived, Felix stepped out the car, while Bridgette jumped out. She was very impatient.

As they neared the fountain, Felix saw a white cat sitting on the fountain’s edge licking its paw. Before he could say anything, Bridgette ran ahead of him –

“TIKKI!” she cried. The cat looked up at them and started running to where her name was called. Bridgette dropped to her knees and held out her hands as Tikki jumped into them. “I’m so glad I found you! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She cried more as she dug her head into her cat. Tikki started rubbing her head against Bri’s head as she let out a purr.

“Is this her?” Felix asked as he finally caught up to her.

“Yes!” Bri stood up and walked back to Felix. “This is her. We found her!” Bridgette looked up at him, a few tears filling her eyes, as she smiled brightly. “Thank you so much!”

Felix froze for maybe half a second. Her smile was such a sweet smile. Something in his chest moved a little. Her smile reminded him of the time when she had helped him escape the girls fighting earlier that week.

“That’s a relief,” Felix sighed in a relief tone.

Bridgette paused. He was smiling. Felix Agreste was smiling. It was a small smile, but still! Did Hell freeze over because he was smiling! She felt a blush hint in her cheeks.

Felix looked down to the white feline in her arms. He reached a hand out to scratch under the cat’s chin. “What did you say her name was again?”

Bridgette snapped to her senses and looked down, “T-Tikki. Her name’s Tikki.”

Felix paused. He looked up at her. “Like in the book?”  
“Book? Oh, you mean _‘The Cat and the Ladybug?’_ Yes! I named her after the ladybug in the book. It was one of my favorite children’s stories growing up.” She smiled at the memory.

“Oh, I see.”

“Did you ever read it Felix? You even recognized the name.”

“Oh, um, yes. My mother use to read it to me when I was younger.”

“Really? My mom too!” she giggled.

Felix looked away when he felt the little bit of heat that was rising in his cheeks.

Bridgette returned her eyes to her Tikki. “Oh my gosh, I got Tikki’s white fur on your coat! I’m so sorry!” She started to panic a little.

“It’s fine. It will come out.”

Bridgette smiled, “Thank you again Felix. For taking the time to help me look for my cat,” she said as she nuzzled her cheek into her cat.

“It was no problem,” he said looking back at her. “I would be worried too if it was my cat. Would you like my driver to give you a ride home?”

Felix has a cat? She thought to herself. “O-oh, yes please! If it’s not too much trouble.”

“No trouble at all.” He turned back and headed towards the car.

Before she started following him, Bridgette called out, “Felix!”

Felix stopped in his place at the sound of his name. He looked back at her, “Yes?”

“What’s your cat’s name? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Felix didn’t realize it, but he smiled as he tilted his head more to the side when he answered, “His name is Plagg.”

Bridgette froze. The breeze was chilly, but she wasn’t cold anymore. She managed to mumble out, “Just like in the book.”

“Just like in the book,” Felix repeated, with the small smile still on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm still working on making the chapters longer.)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It felt like a good time to go down memory lane.

“Where have you been!? Do you know how worried I was!?”

Felix made it very late to his father’s business dinner. Mr. Agreste met him outside and did not look too happy.

“Do you know how many times I had Nathalie call you? What could have possibly been more important for you to not answer your phone or at least give us a call back? We were starting to think you might have been in an accident!” Mr. Agreste’s red face matched the anger in his voice.

“I apologize. I take full responsibility. I was helping out someone.” Felix didn’t exactly want to go into the details.

“By doing what exactly?”

“We were helping them look for someone.” He didn’t want to mention how he was helping a girl look for her cat. He knew his father would have found it a pointless cause.

“Then why didn’t you let them ask the police? I’m sure they would have been more than happy to help.”

“I just happen to know the person which was why I did not treat them like a stranger.”

“And who were they exactly?”

“One of my classmates. I apologize for not calling. I won’t repeat that mistake.”

Since Felix was usually always obedient, Mr. Agreste decided to let it go for the night. “Alright then, as long as you understand. You may go home ahead of me tonight. Since the dinner is nearly over, there’s no need for you to attend anymore. That is all.”

“Yes father.”  Felix felt a little relief. He walked back to the town car along with Francis. Once they were in the car and on their way, Felix spoke, “I truly apologize Francis. I didn’t mean to put us in that situation.”

This wasn’t how Felix pictured his night would go. Although, he was a little relieved. He didn’t have to attend the business dinner. No having to praise his father in front of other people. He didn’t have to kiss up to anyone for the night. And he got a break from being reminded of his taking over the family’s business in the future for a day.

When they got back to the mansion, Felix went straight to his room. After tonight’s events, he felt the need to see his cat. Sure, he just saw him not too long ago, but after imagining if he had lost Plagg like Bridgette lost Tikki, he felt like being reassured that he was alright.

Felix opened his door to find Plagg stretching on his bed. When he closed the door behind him, Plagg looked up. He immediately jumped off the bed and pranced on over to Felix. He stopped at his feet waving his tail. Felix scooped him up in his arms and carried him to his couch. “Hi Plagg, I’m back early.” When he sat down, he continued, “Some things happened, one thing lead to another, and now I’m home.”

“Mrow.” Plagg meowed as he started sniffing Felix’s coat.

Felix glanced at his sleeves. Apparently, he failed to get all the white fur off his coat before going to meet his father. Well wasn’t he lucky he ended up not going in the end? He thought to himself. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t holding another cat in case you were getting jealous.”

“Mrow,” Plagg answered. He looked up at him again. His green eyes meeting his owner’s grayish-blue eyes.

“What? Are you mad?” He asked his cat. Of course, he knows he can’t talk, but that doesn’t mean he can’t tell what he’s thinking.

Plagg ignored the question and nuzzled his head against Felix’s arms. The last few times Felix touched another cat or dog, Plagg would ignore him for about two days. Felix didn’t think about it too much. He was just grateful to have him in his arms at all tonight. He understood Bridgette all too well of the feeling of losing your precious companion.

 

Felix thought back to the day he first got Plagg. He was eleven years old. His mother had just passed away from an illness. On their way back from her funeral, Felix noticed an old man on the street with a box giving away kittens. He made his father pull the car over and begged him if he could keep one. Normally, Mr. Agreste would be opposed to pets in his house, but he felt that maybe Felix had a need to fill the void in his heart, so he allowed him to keep one.

Felix chose the kitten with the blackest fur and green eyes. The old man asked him, “Are you sure? They say black cats bring about bad luck.” Felix said yes, because what more bad luck could he have after losing his mother whom he loved so much?

When they got home, Felix took the kitten to his room to think of a name for him. He set him on the floor so he could maybe run around a little. About an hour passed and he still couldn’t think of one.

Nathalie knocked on his door. He left the cat on the floor to go meet her. When he opened the door, he saw that she had her arms full of cat necessities, such as, a small bed, some food and toys, and a litter box. As well, she thought to give him a guide book on how to raise them, and if he needed anything else, to let her know. He thanked her and decided to crack open the book.

As he was reading, he heard several meows coming from the kitten. It was trying to scratch at some books at the bottom of the bookshelf. Felix put down his guide book and ran over to stop the kitten from ruining the books too much. He picked up the kitten with one hand, and used the other to scan over the books that had gotten scratched at. It wasn’t too bad thankfully.

He then noticed a familiar book. He pulled out the wide, thin book. It was _‘The Cat and the Ladybug’_ that his mother use to read to him when he was younger. He took the book with him back to his couch and cracked it open.

 _‘The Cat and the Ladybug’_ was a children’s book. It was about a small, black cat who had gotten lost in the forest. It was trying to find its mother. He kept asking other animals for help and directions, but most of them ignored him because they feared he would bring them bad luck. He felt so sad, lost, and lonely.

Until finally, he found some hope. The little black cat decided to ask a passing ladybug if she had seen his mother. His luck was turning around when she said she had seen a bigger black cat who was looking for her son. The ladybug asked him what his name was. He answered, “My name is Plagg. What’s your name Miss Ladybug?”

The ladybug responded, “My name is Tikki.”

Plagg felt happy that someone was willing to talk to him. “Can you help me find my mom Tikki?” The ladybug was more than happy to help him find his mother. Two days and two nights had passed. It was full of adventures they went through as they traveled through the forest and became best friends. On the third day, they found the mother and they lived happily ever after.

Felix lowered his head and started to tear up as he was reading the book. “I miss her so much,” he said to no one. He was thinking about his mother all over again. His tears came down his face faster. Forgetting he had the kitten in his hand, it started licking his cheek at his tears.

“ _Mew_.” The little kitten stared at him. Felix felt like the cat could sense his sadness. The kitten then looked down at the book and started tapping it with its paw. Felix looked back at the book and realized how much the kitten looked like the cat in the book.

He held up the kitten with both hands to his face, “I got it. I’ll name you Plagg.” He smiled as the black kitten mewed in agreement.

 

“Mrow!” Felix came back to reality. Plagg was tapping Felix’s nose with its paws trying to get his attention.

“Sorry Plagg. I guess I got lost in thought. Why don’t we get ready for bed?”

“Mrow,” Plagg meowed. Felix changed out of his suit to a plain black t-shirt and grey pajama pants. As he climbed into bed, Plagg jumped up and laid down on the pillow next to his.

“Goodnight Plagg.”

“Mrow.”

*****

Bridgette was sitting up in her bed holding Tikki in her arms. “Please please please don’t run off like that again Tikki,” she begged.

“Mew.” Bridgette sighed. She was still a little shaken up about the whole thing. But nonetheless happy she found her cat. She loved Tikki so much.

 

Brdigette still remembers the day she got Tikki. She was eleven years old. Her and her mother were coming from the park. They saw an old man with a box of kittens. She ran up to the box to look at the kittens.

“Momma, can I have a kitty?” She begged her mother.

“I don’t know Bri,” Mrs. Cheng was contemplating the thought. “Taking care of a pet is a lot of work and a huge responsibility.

“Pleeease? I’ll work hard in school!”

Her mother chuckled, “You already do well in school.”

“I’ll help around the house!”

“You already help around the house and the bakery.”

Bridgette tried to think of something else she could do to convince her mother. Mrs. Cheng laughed a little more at her adorable daughter. She already knew her daughter was capable of taking care of a cat. She just wanted to see what Bridgette would bargain for. “Okay, if you can keep up with your school work and your dance lessons, you can keep a kitten. As long as you take care of it well.”

Bridgette’s smile grew wide as she jumped for joy. “Really?!”

“Of course,” her mother answered. Bri was so excited. She turned back to the box of kittens. There were about three left. Two of them were a mix of orange and white, and the third one had all white fur. The white kitten’s blue eyes reminded Bridgette of her own.

“Mister, may I have this one?” She picked up the white kitten.

“Of course you may,” the old man smiled.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” Bridgette asked curiously.

“It is a girl.”

She looked back in the box, “Are all these yours?”

“In a way. I own an animal shelter and a few of the cats gave birth to kittens. We cannot keep them all, so I figured this was a better way for them to find homes.”

“Ohh.” She looked back to the kitten in her hands. “Her white fur is so pretty like snow. It’s a shame you didn’t have an all-black fuzzy one. I had a perfect name for it,” she giggled.

“Ah, that is a shame. I had one earlier, but a young man adopted him already,” he chuckled.

“Hmm,” she felt a hint of jealousy at the man in question. But it didn’t take long for her to get over it when the kitten meowed.

“ _Mew_.”

“Oh my gosh she’s so cute! I got it! I’ll name her Tikki! Like in my favorite book!” she exclaimed as she kissed the kitten’s cheek.

“That is a lovely name young Miss,” the old man chuckled again.

“Thank you so much!”

Bridgette’s mother chuckled, “Thank you sir. We promise to take good care of it.”

“You’re very welcome. Take care now.”

They waved goodbye at the old man and headed home. “Let’s pick up some stuff for it at the pet store,” he mother said.

“Okay!”

 

Tikki had fallen asleep in Bridgette’s arms. She sighed. Bri couldn’t help but be in awe of her. She gently placed her on the side of her pillow. _“Goodnight Tikki,”_ she whispered so she wouldn’t wake her up.

*****

Monday came around. The girls had just finished practice. Melodie was putting her hair into a braid and Bridgette was putting hers into pigtails. Everything was going okay so far. Bridgette still gets a little nervous every time she opens her locker. She was afraid of getting another “note.”

“Anything interesting happen over the weekend?” Melodie asked as she was grabbing her backpack.

“Well I don’t know about interesting, but Tikki ran out on a little adventure Saturday night.”

“She did?”

“Well, more like she just ran off. There was a butterfly and then she was gone, and oh my gosh, I freaked out.”

“Tikki ran off? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. I found her.” For now, Bridgette wanted to hold off on the details about Felix showing up and helping her look for her cat. Especially when there were still other ears around them.

“That’s a relief. So, hey, my mother doesn’t work late tonight so I don’t have to babysit. Can I come over to play with Tikki?”

“Sure!” Both girls began their way to class. Along the hallways, Melodie noticed a group of girls glaring at them.

“Take a picture! It’ll last longer!” Melodie shouted at the girls. They jumped in shock and scurried away.

Bridgette whipped her head in the direction of the girls running away. “What was that about?”

“Just a couple of girls with staring problems. They need to get a life,” Mel huffed. As they kept walking, Bridgette had a bad feeling. Something didn’t feel right.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it was such a nice day too.

The last bell had just rung. School was officially over for the day. Bridgette couldn’t help but feel paranoid that something was off. As everyone was leaving the classroom, she was still packing up her stuff. Melodie went to go talk to Ms. Bustier about her grades or something, she wasn’t sure. Her mind kept wandering off throughout the day.

After school, Melodie went over to Bridgette’s house to play with Tikki. About an hour later, Bridgette had a feeling like she forgot something. “Oh my gosh, I think I left my math notebook in my locker!”

“You sure?” Melodie asked while she used a cat teaser toy on Tikki.

Bridgette went through her backpack to double check. “Yeah, it’s not in here. I need it because it has my notes in it,” she sulked.

Melodie picked up her smartphone to check the time. “Well it’s 5:26. I think the school should still be open and after school activities should still be going on. Your place isn’t that far. You wanna walk over there now?” She offered.

“You wouldn’t mind?” Bridgette would feel bad if she made her friend walk with her back to the school.

“Nah. Ooh, can we take Tikki with us?” Mel asked with a mischievous grin.

“Uhh, I don’t think cats are allowed on the school grounds. Also, she just ran off the other day, I don’t know if I want to risk it again.”

“Well don’t you have a leash or something? Like, just in case?”

“True, but I STILL don’t think pets are allowed on school grounds,” she chuckled.

“Okay, how about I wait outside with Tikki while you run in and grab your notebook? I don’t feel like leaving this cutie behind,” Mel cooed as she kissed Tikki’s cheek.

“Mrow.”

“See? She agrees with me,” Mel giggled.

“Okay, we’ll take her with us,” Bridgette gave in, “but keep her on her leash,” she warned.

“Hooray!” She held Tikki up like the monkey did in the _Lion King_. Both girls stood up and Bridgette walked over to her desk to find her cat’s leash. It was pink to match Tikki’s collar. They went downstairs to tell Bridgette’s parents of their plan. Afterwards, they were on their way back to school.

Melodie held Tikki in her arms and had her leash wrapped around her wrist. “Now all I need is a pair of huge sunglasses, some heels, and I can look like Chloe Bourgeois.”

Bri giggled, “The model Chloe?”

“Of course! Who else?” Chloe Bourgeois was 23 years old and one of the most popular models known around. Melodie idolized her. Bridgette, however, thought she was okay. Chloe was the Mayor’s daughter so it didn’t take long for her to gain popularity. Bri was more into celebrities who donated and volunteered at charities, like Adrien Agreste.

Bridgette debated on asking Felix for his older cousin’s autograph before in the past, but decided against it because he looked too scary to talk to. But now she realizes he wasn’t so bad after all.

“Yeah, with your long, blonde hair, you could be a younger version her,” Bri chuckled.

“I know right!” Both girls couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

It was more cloudy than sunny outside. The sun was out, but not as visible with all the clouds. The days were getting deeper into Autumn. Bridgette was thankful for the cooler season. She disliked the Summer heat. Melodie, however, wasn’t much of a fan.

“Ugh, it’s starting to become sweater season,” Melodie grunted. “Goodbye, sweet Summer,” she said as she placed a hand over her heart.

“Hahaha, you are such a drama queen Mel,” Bri couldn’t hold in her laughter. As the girls argued over which season was better, they didn’t realize they had already walked up the stairs to the school’s entrance.

“-and that is why Summer is better!” Melodie finished.

“Suuurre, whatever you say Mel. Alright, stay out here while I go inside.”

“Okie dokie!”

Bridgette went inside the building and headed towards the girls’ locker room. On her way, she noticed some of the clubs were letting out their members little by little. At least they made it in time for the school to still be open. Bridgette reached for her locker and opened it to find her math notebook. While she had her eyes focused on her notebook, she barely noticed the piece of paper that slipped out. It felt like her heart stopped for a moment.

“ _No, not again_ ,” she whispered to herself. Bridgette felt like she wanted to cry. She didn’t want to go through this. Again. What more is there? She thought. What could she have possibly done to create enemies? If this was about Felix again, she would gladly give him to the person that’s been doing this to her just so they could stop. Then again, he wasn’t exactly on object you could just hand over to someone.

Bridgette picked up the piece of paper. She didn’t open it, but she could tell there was more than one pieces of paper. Instead of opening it, she decided to deal with it later. There was no reason to ruin the fun she was having with her best friend. She placed it in the middle of her notebook and held onto it tightly so it wouldn’t fall out, and walked back outside.

She took her time walking to calm her nerves so Melodie wouldn’t notice her uneasiness. Bridgette waved several goodbyes to people she knew that were leaving their after-school activities. She wished their dance practice was in the afternoon. That way she wouldn’t have to wake up so early. When she reached the door that lead outside, she heard Melodie talking to someone.

“She is adorable!” Bridgette walked out to Claude scratching Tikki’s head.

“I know right! Oh, there you are Bri!” Melodie looked up to her as well did Claude.

“Hey Bridge. I just met your cat. She’s adorable,” Claude beamed as he directed his attention back to the white cat.

“Thank you,” Bri smiled. “Did you just come from Tennis practice?”

“Yeah, we just got out. What brought you guys back to school?”

“Oh, I just came back to grab my math notebook that I forgot,” she said as she raised her notebook a little.

“And the cat?”

“Mel wanted to bring her with us because she’s obsessed,” she chuckled.

“I sure am!” Melodie agreed as she kissed Tikki’s cheek.

Claude chuckled, “Oh okay. Do you girls need an escort home? With the cooler weather coming, it gets dark outside quicker.”

“No it’s okay. I don’t live that far from here. But if it’ll make you feel better, you can join us back to my family’s bakery and I can hook you up with some free, baked sweets?” Bridgette offered. She didn’t want to bother him to walk them all the way home, but thought it wouldn’t hurt for him to join them. A man has his pride after all.

“Really? That’d be great!” Claude couldn’t help but get excited at the offer of free food. He’s been to her family’s bakery before and he could never forget how good it was.

“Yeah, it’s no problem. And you don’t have to stay long because I’m sure you want to go home and shower as soon as possible,” she giggled.

“Yeah, definitely,” Claude chuckled.

“Do you want to hold Tikki?” Melodie offered as she chimed in.

Claude looked at Melodie and then back at Bridgette. “Could I?”

“Yeah, just make sure you hold onto her leash well. I don’t want her to run off,” Bri warned.

“Okay!” Melodie offered to hold Claude’s duffle bag while he grabbed Tikki from her arms. They started walking to Bridgette’s family’s bakery when he said, “She’s so fuzzy! The collar suits both of you Bridge.”

Bridgette blushed, “W-why do you say that?”

Without looking at her, he replied, “Because you have a pink notebook in your hand so I’m guessing you’re a fan of the color.”

She looked down at the notebook in her arm, “O-oh, right.”

“You should see her room,” Melodie said with a mischievous grin.

“Mel!”

“Her room is so pink!” She snickered.

“Really? My room is mostly blue.”

“Such a manly color,” Melodie teased.

“I try,” Claude chuckled.

“Well, Mel’s room is purple,” Bridgette fired back.

“See, I’m not afraid to admit my room is purple like _someone_!” She directed her voice at Bridgette.

Bridgette put her hand to her chest to pretend to be offended, “Why, I never.” Everyone couldn’t help but laugh. As they nearly reached the bakery, Claude handed Tikki back to Melodie as he grabbed his stuff back.

When they got to the bakery, a customer walked out saying goodbye to the Chengs. Sabine walked to the door to turn the OPEN sign to CLOSED. She noticed Bridgette and her friends walking up to the building. “Oh, you’re back. Did you find it?”

“Yes maman. And a friend of ours was kind enough to walk us home,” she gestured towards Claude.

“Hello Mrs. Cheng,” he greeted.

Sabine took a good look at the young man in question. “My, what a gentleman,” she chuckled. “Would you like to come in?” All three followed Mrs. Cheng into the building. “We have several pastries left over today. If you’d like, you may take some home. You too Melodie dear.”

Melodie became excited, “Awesome! Thanks Mrs. Cheng! Let me go put Tikki in Bri’s room first.”

“It’s okay, I can do it,” Bridgette took Tikki from Melodie and proceeded to her room. She figured it would be a good chance to put away her notebook. When she reached her room, she placed Tikki in her own little bed. She took out the folded note and placed it deep in the back of her desk drawer.

Once that was done, she headed back downstairs to her friends. She came back to both Mel and Claude holding paper bags full of leftover baked goods.

“I’m really excited to try the fruit tart,” Claude looked like he wanted to jump for joy, if it wasn’t for him trying to stay as cool as possible.

“Oh, it’s definitely a must try,” Mel recommended.

“Well I hope you both enjoy them. Please feel free to come back,” Sabine encouraged. And with that, she headed to the back to help her husband clean up the kitchen.

“Mel, will you be staying longer?” Bridgette asked.

“Mm, I think I should go home now while there’s still a little light out still.”

“I can walk you home?” Claude offered.

“Okay! I don’t live that far from Bri, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not, I’d be glad too.”

“Alright, be careful you two,” Bridgette said as she walked them out the door.

Melodie and Claude waved goodbye and thanked her again for the food. Once they were gone, she let out a sigh. She knew what she had to do now. It was time to deal with _that_ back in her room.

When she was finally in her room, she closed her door behind her and went straight to her desk. She opened the drawer, pulled out the note, and opened them.

The first piece of paper on top confused her a little, but also worried her. Printed on it, was an enlarged photo of her wearing what she remembers was Felix’s coat. The right side of her back was faced towards the camera’s point of view, so you couldn’t see her holding Tikki in her left arm. She had her right hand on Felix’s town car’s door as she was about to get back into the car after they found her cat.

Although it was night time in the picture, with the street lights, you can recognize her face. She realized someone must have seen her with Felix that Saturday night, or maybe they only saw her getting into a car. But what was wrong with the photo, she thought to herself. Was it another being with Felix at the wrong place and wrong time thing again? Did they see her cat though?

Bridgette took out the second piece of paper that was behind it. It read, in printed words,

**_“Didn’t I warn you to stay away from Félix? I thought I made myself perfectly clear last time. Now, you may be wondering why the picture? Look at it again as if you were a stranger who didn’t know who the girl was. Maybe it’s just a girl that’s wearing a coat? Maybe the coat is so long that it covers a lot of her body? Maybe it looks like she’s not wearing anything underneath?? Do you see where I’m going with this?"_**

Bridgette shuddered. She felt heart beating faster. She took a good look at the picture again. Her eyes went wide as she realized what the note meant. Because she didn’t check what she was wearing that night when she went looking for Tikki, and because of her height and body shape, Felix’s coat covered over all of her clothes, including her shorts. His coat basically fit like a dress on her. It looked very sketchy.

The coat was huge on her, her hair was a little frizzled from running, and it looked like she wasn’t wearing anything but the coat. She was going inside of a car that was mostly cut out the photo, so you couldn’t tell it belonged to Felix. It didn’t look like a car her family owned. Bridgette started to panic. She felt like she couldn’t breathe, but she continued reading the note.

**_“Now, before you go snitching again to the teachers, you might want to rethink that. I have eyes and ears EVERYWHERE. And, I have a LOT of copies. Best believe before you can even tell anyone, I will send these out to the whole school. And even if the whole school knows or doesn’t care, just remember, the Internet is a huge place. ♥_ **

**_Now, back to what I was talking about. Don’t get in my way and stay away from Félix._ **

**_Please and Thank You._ **

**_Love, Félix’s Soulmate and Future Bride ♥"_**

Bridgette’s legs couldn’t hold up anymore. She dropped to her knees. Tears started flowing down her face. She was in too much of a shock to even sob or say anything. Her tears never stopped that night.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's normal for friends to worry about their friends, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get more writing done before I go back to Uni for the summer. I don't want to stop typing this <3  
> I'm surprised it's already the 13th chapter. Although, looking back at the beginning, the first chapter felt more like a prologue lol

“Here is your schedule for today Felix.”

“Thank you Nathalie.” Felix took the piece of paper from her hands. After school, he was to go straight home for his Mandarin lessons. As well, he was to have dinner by himself. Again. He noticed there was nothing listed for lunch. That meant he could stay at school or go home.

Yesterday, Mr. Agreste had Felix go home for lunch to discuss with him again about his actions over the weekend. Somewhere deep inside his chest, he felt a little bummed when he had to go home. He wasn’t sure about what though.

Either way, Felix was starting to think spending time at school wasn’t so bad. He wasn’t being crowded anymore. Some girls still stalked him, but not as much as before. He still got the occasional love letters from them every now and then. One girl even had the nerve to ask him out on a date. Aurore Beauréal if he remembered correctly? The answer was no of course. He had no interest in her, or dating for that matter.

“Nathalie?”

Nathalie stopped in her place and turned back around. “Yes?”

“Do you think my father would be opposed to the idea of me getting more involved with the school?” He had debated on asking this question for a while now.

She blinked at him in confusion. “Involved how?”

“If I were to join an extracurricular activity or sport?”

Nathalie stood silent. She didn’t really have an answer. “I’m not sure. Would you like me to ask?”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He decided to drop it.

“Alright. Be careful on your way to school,” she finished as she walked away.

Why did he go and ask? He wondered to himself. Maybe he was letting Claude influence him a little too much. Well, it’s not like he can just stop being friends with him now. In fact, he has already gotten so use to him and appreciated his company. He would even go as far as calling him a friend.

Wait. Friend? Felix raised a hand to rub his forehead. _Do I really see him as a friend?_ He thought to himself. He let out a sigh. This was a first for him. He never bothered making friends because he thought they were pointless. All he’s ever known were the words ‘associates’ and ‘business partners.’

Felix gathered his things and started walking towards his town car. Francis was waiting in the driver’s seat as usual. Once he got settled in, they were on their way. He stared out the window and hoped it would be a normal day.

When he arrived at the school, he thanked his driver and continued his way to go inside. As he stepped out the car, Melodie arrived at the same time. Before he could say his greetings, she started off with –

“What’s up Prince?” She grinned.

Felix paused. He furrowed his eyebrows, “Ms. Moreau, would you please not call me that? I don’t know how many times I’ve already asked you.”

“It’s Melodie, not ‘Ms. Moreau,’ thank you very much. You call the other two by their first names anyways.”

Felix assumed she was talking about Claude and Bridgette. He let out a heavy sigh, “Alright, Melodie, would you please refrain from calling me that?”

“Mmm, I’ll think about it. It’s got a nice ring to it,” she chuckled.

He let out another sigh and continued walking. Melodie hummed as she started walking alongside him. Other than her humming, it was awkwardly silent between them. Claude and Bridgette were usually with them to fill in the silence. Felix wasn’t exactly the social butterfly.

Luckily for him, Melodie broke the silence when she said, “Well, see you in class,” she waved goodbye as she headed towards the gymnasium. A sense of relief washed over him. It’s not that he disliked Melodie, she just knew how to push his buttons. He saw her as a bit of a wild card.

Felix made his way towards the library. He was almost there until he was stopped.

“Good morning Mr. Agreste,” Principal Damocles greeted.

“Hello sir,” Felix greeted back.

“How is everything? Anything happening recently?”

“No sir. Everything is fine.”

“That’s good to hear. Carry on,” he nodded as he went on about his way.

Everything was fine, he thought again. Usually when everything seemed calm, something wasn’t. But he couldn’t think of anything that was wrong. He probably just wasn’t use to it.

Felix reached his usual table in the back of the library. He pulled out his book, _‘Romeo and Juliet.’_ He read it when he had free time and was about halfway done with it. He scoffed at the idea when he read about Romeo and Juliet getting married when they barely knew each other, but since he’s already come this far, he might as well finish the book. People falling in love at first sight wasn’t really a problem, he just couldn’t understand it.

Felix has never been in love. There was nothing wrong with being in love, he just hasn’t met anyone who made him feel that way. Or maybe because he’s never felt it before, he wouldn’t know it if it was right in front of him?

“Feliiix!” Felix jumped at the sound of the person yelling his name. He grabbed his chest at his heart beating so fast from being startled. He looked up to the person at fault.

It was Claude, of course. Who else would act so familiar with him. “What?” He grunted.

“Goood morniiing!” Claude grinned.

“You seem to be in high spirits this morning,” Felix said as he finally calmed his heart.

“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s a wonderful morning!” He exclaimed as he took a seat across Felix. Is it possible for someone to be in too good of a mood?

“Well that’s nice. Now if you don’t mind, we’re in a library, so please lower your voice.”

“Oops, my bad,” he chuckled.

“Do I dare ask why you’re so happy? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, don’t get me wrong,” Felix added.

“I don’t know, I’m just in a good mood today,” he smiled. “Say Felix,”

“Hm,” he answered as he continued reading his book.

“You want my last jelly filled donut hole?”

Felix looked up in confusion, “Your what?”

“My last jelly filled donut hole?” Claude repeated as he held up a brown paper bag marked with a T and an S.

“Um,” he hesitated as he didn’t know how to answer.

“I stopped by Bridgette’s family’s bakery this morning and got a dozen of these. They’re good! But I don’t think I can finish the last one to be honest,” he chuckled. “You want it?”

Felix had to take a moment to think about it. It was rare that he ate food that didn’t require utensils. However, he was curious. He still remembers how good the pudding that Bridgette had given him was. It was tempting, and his father wasn’t there to stop him. “Sure, why not,” he decided.

Felix took out a spare tissue from his bag to grab the small pastry so he wouldn’t get his fingers dirty. Even though it was small and he could’ve ate it in one bite, he bit only half of it. He was quiet as he chewed until –

“This is incredible,” he said softly.

“Right? Told you it was good,” Claude teased.

Felix finished the last of it, and soon regretted trying it because now he craved more. He wondered if there was any chance he could ask Francis to stop by the bakery after school. Probably not because of his tight schedule. Maybe another day.

Claude went on talking about how he visited the bakery yesterday evening and how Bridgette’s mother gave him free sweets. Felix felt a hint of jealousy as he described how good the pastries tasted. He almost completely forgot about the book he was holding until Claude pointed it out.

“Oh you’re still reading that,” Claude asked as he point at the book in question. “How is it? Where you at?”

Felix looked down at the book. “I’m halfway through it. It’s alright I suppose.”

“You suppose?” He chuckled.

“Well what would you expect? Juliet was very young and married an older man she barely knew.”

“Yeah, but they were in love. It’s one of the most popular, tragic romances known.”

“I’m not really into romances as I told you before,” Felix stated.

“Yeah, you don’t look like the type either,” Claude shrugged, “but I suppose everyone has their own tastes,” he teased. He pulled out his phone to check the time, “Oh, it’s about time we start walking to class. Shall we?”

Felix placed his book in his backpack and rolled up the paper bag. He threw it away in the trash as they left the library. They walked to class while Claude went on about his favorite romance novels. Everyone in class showed up slowly one by one or two by two. Before Felix moved towards his seat, Melodie stopped the boys in their tracks.

“Hey guys, have any of you seen Bridgette yet?”

“I haven’t. You Felix?” Claude looked to him.

“No, I haven’t,” he answered.

Claude looked back at Melodie, “She wasn’t at practice this morning?”

“No. She didn’t show up. She’s never missed a day and she’s not answering my texts.” Melodie kept checking her phone with a worried expression.

“She probably caught a cold,” Felix suggested as he continued to his chair.

“You think? She looked just fine yesterday,” Claude wondered.

“Yeah, she was perfectly fine. Can you even get sick in the middle of the night?” Melodie asked as her eyes never left her phone.

“Just try calling her later during lunch Melodie,” Claude suggested.

Melodie let out a sigh, “Fine, I suppose,” she gave in and went back to her seat.

The first period bell rang as Ms. Bustier walked in with the morning announcements. Once done, she dove right in to her lesson plans for the day.

Two hours in, Felix was writing notes in his notebook until he noticed the person beside him in his peripheral vision. Claude kept fidgeting in his seat and looking to his left. Felix turned his head towards him and spoke lowly so they wouldn’t be heard, “Are you alright Claude?”

Claude jumped up a little, startled by his question. “Uh yeah. Fine. Why?” He looked back to the other side. Felix leaned forward a little to see what he kept staring at. It was Bridgette’s and Melodie’s table. Was he that worried? He thought.

He continued writing in his notebook, “Well, for starters you keep bouncing in your seat. Second, you don’t seem too focused on the lecture.”

Claude looked back at him and then down at his notebook. He had maybe only written half a page worth of notes while Felix was already on his third. “Oh my god. I’m sorry, but do you think I can borrow your notes later?”

“Sure.” A little more time passed when Felix noticed Claude pull out his phone and started texting. Felix was a little surprised because he knew Claude wasn’t the type to text during class. He did this several more times throughout the morning.

Felix leaned a little forward and took another glance at Melodie’s table. She was texting too. He wasn’t 100% certain, but he suspected they were texting each other. He let out an inner sigh and continued focusing on Ms. Bustier’s lecture.

The lunch bell finally came around. Felix closed his notebook and turned to Claude, “Now, I ask again, are you sure you’re alright?”

Claude looked back at him, “Yeah, I’m sorry. I was just worried about Melodie because she looked worried. I texted her asking if she was alright, and she was just worried about Bridgette.”

“Is she that anxious? It’s only one day she’s absent.”

“Well it’s not just that,” Claude started.

“Not just that?” Felix asked.

Claude paused and then looked around. Melodie had already left the classroom. He figured she went outside to call Bridgette. He looked back around again as more people, including the teacher, left the room to go eat lunch. Once him and Felix were the only ones left in the room, Claude went to go close the door. Felix didn’t know how to react to his strange behavior.

Claude walked back to him and continued, “Felix, promise you won’t tell anyone?”

Felix’s mind went blank. Before he could assume what was happening, he asked, “Does it have to do with anything illegal?” Usually before he decides anything, he thinks first about what his father would do. Being in Felix’s position, almost everything he does or says reflects on his family.

“No, don’t worry, it’s not like that. It’s just that,” he sighed. “How do I put this. Last week?”

“Yes?”

Claude took another pause as he looked up at the ceiling, trying to find the words.

“Is this about Melodie? Or Bridgette? It’s alright, you can tell me,” he said as he crossed his arms and leaned back against his chair. Felix could tell Claude was having trouble talking about whatever he wanted to talk about. He liked Claude. If he could somehow help, he’ll try.

Claude looked back to Felix. “So, yesterday after practice, I ran into Melodie and Bridgette. I walked with them to Bridgette’s family’s bakery, and then I walked Melodie home. Did you get that phone call from the school last week?”

Felix was taken aback a little, “Yes, we did.” He wanted to ask, but decided to let him finish.

“Well, I didn’t know what to talk to her about so I brought that up in our conversation. And she made me promise to not tell anyone, but –”

“Are you sure you should be telling me then?”

“Probably not, but I trust you.” Felix felt a little thump in his chest. He stayed quiet and let Claude continue. “Melodie told me that Bridgette had gotten a threatening note in her locker last week.”

Felix stood straight up, almost knocking his chair over. “What?”

“Last Tuesday, Bridgette got some kind of threat letter in her locker.”

“About what?” Felix couldn’t think of a reason for someone to hate her. He thought back to his recent encounters with her. She was a nice girl.

“I don’t know. She didn’t go into specific details. Just that she got that note, and that on Wednesday, they told some of the teachers including the principal. That’s why we got that phone call.”

Felix remembered back to last Tuesday during lunch. He remembered Bridgette returning from her locker looking down and being unusually quiet. He remembered her helping him escape the day before. And her happy expression when they found her cat the other day. He felt his fist clench and his chest tighten.

*****

Melodie was dialing Bridgette’s number for the third time when finally –

_“Hello?”_

“Bri? Bri! It’s about time you picked up! What happened with you today?”

_“Sorry Mel, I wasn’t feeling good when I woke up.”_

“How’d you get sick? You were just fine yesterday.”

_“I don’t know. Maybe the change in weather? But don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow.”_

“Okay girl, feel better.”

_“Thanks.”_

Melodie hung up her phone. She finally felt at peace with herself. She pulled up her messages to text Claude.

*****

“So are you saying Bridgette might’ve stayed home because of that?” Felix asked.

“No, not exactly. It was just that, Melodie told me this yesterday, and then Bridgette is absent today…I don’t know, maybe I just assumed the worst case scenario.”

“Is that what you were texting Melodie about?”

“You saw that huh?” Claude chuckled. “Yeah, kind of. I was just asking if she was okay. She told me Bridgette wasn’t answering her texts is all. I asked if it was related to the note thing and she said probably not.” Then his phone vibrated. He looked at his phone screen and unlocked it.

**Melodie: Hey. Are you outside yet?**

**Melodie: Can I join?**

**Melodie: Bri finally picked up, she wasn’t feeling well**

Claude smiled. He looked up at Felix, “Melodie just texted me and told me Bridgette was just not feeling well.” He let out a sigh of relief. Like, he’s not relieved that she’s sick, just that it wasn’t _that_ , he thought to himself. “She wants to join us for lunch. Shall we?” He gestured towards the door. “I’m sorry I poured all this on you by the way.”

Felix let out a sigh of relief as well. “It’s alright. I don’t mind. Let’s go,” he said as he grabbed his bag and walked towards the door. When his hand landed on the door knob, he realized Claude wasn’t following. He looked back at him. “Claude? Are you coming?”

Claude stared at him, and then he smiled, “You’ve become a lot nicer Felix.”

Felix was stunned. He felt a little heat rise in his cheeks. He tried to change the subject, “I’m going.” He opened the door and continued walking.

Claude couldn’t help but laugh, “Wait for me!” He shouted as he grabbed his bag and followed suit. Claude texted Melodie back that they were on their way towards her. As they walked, Claude couldn’t stop laughing, and Felix just ignored it.

“Hey guys,” Melodie greeted. She was sitting at a different table than they normally sat at.

“Hey,” Claude greeted back. “Everything good?”

“Yes and no. Yes, I found out what happened to Bri. And no, she wasn’t feeling good. But good news is she said she should be back tomorrow,” she smiled.

“She should be careful. The weather is getting colder,” Felix advised.

Melodie looked at him. Bridgette mentioned the weather as well. And since when did the little Prince care? She thought to herself. He usually stuck to himself and minded his own business. Then again, she thought, he has been around them a little more lately with Claude’s influence. Maybe he was slowly warming up to them.

Before she got lost in her thoughts, she started, “That reminds me. Felix.”

Felix looked up from his food, “Yes?”

They stared eye to eye. “Never mind,” she continued eating.

He didn’t look away. “What is it?”

She didn’t look at him, but she stopped eating. Claude looked back and forth between him. He felt like he had an idea of what she wanted to say.

“Melodie? It’s fine. I told him,” Claude said.

She whipped her head towards him, “Claude!”

“I trust him.”

She stood up wanting to walk away, but sat back down instead. She let out a heavy sigh. “Even though we got it taken care of, I’m still uneasy about it. I’m just worried about her is all.” She wanted to tell them what the note said, but decided not to.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. I believe she’s strong” Claude reassured her.

Melodie didn’t say anymore. She decided to leave it alone for now. Claude tried to change the subject by bringing up the fact that he got Felix to try a donut hole earlier that morning. Melodie laughed as Felix sulked.

*****

It was a little after 6 o’clock that evening. Bridgette was still in bed. She felt like she had no energy to get up. Her mother came up to her room to check up on her several times throughout the day. She knew she had to get it together by dinner time. She didn’t want to worry her parents.

Her phone started ringing. She looked to see who it was. It was Melodie. Probably calling to check up on her. “Hello?” She answered.

 _“Hey girl. You feeling better? I missed you today,”_ she giggled.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she lied.

“That’s good. Anyways, I just wanted to give you an update on today. I also got notes you can borrow tomorrow. But anyways, I told Claude about the note yesterday when he walked me home, and he told Felix…”

Bridgette shot up, “What! What did you tell them?!”

“Don’t worry! I didn’t tell them about the Felix part. Just that you got a note, that’s all, I swear.”

“Still, why?”

“Because I trust Claude, and he trusts Felix. So, I trust him too. After all, they’re our friends. Well, Claude is, I don’t know what Felix thinks of us, but he seems fond of Claude.”

Bridgette giggled, “I cannot believe you called Felix your friend. What happened to ‘that little Prince?’”

“Oh that? We had an agreement this morning. I’ll stop calling him Prince and he’ll stop calling me Ms. Moreau. He’s like an old man calling everyone Mr. and Ms.” she giggled.

“That’s true. I got him to stop calling me Ms. Cheng last week.”

“What? When?”

“When I dragged him away from those girls fighting.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t know. That explains a bit. Well, other than that, Claude said he stopped by your bakery this morning to get breakfast.”

“Oh, yeah. My mother told me. She’s very fond of him.”

“And why wouldn’t she be? He’s a nice boy. He said he got Felix to try some of what he got and he was amazed,” she chuckled.

“Really? I guess we got another fan. It’s not long until we control everyone’s taste buds,” both girls laughed as they talked more.

“Oh my gosh girl, before I forget, guess what?”

“What?” Bridgette was curious.

“Lila and Aurore had a fight this morning.”

“A fight? Physical or verbally?”

“Verbally. Apparently, Lila found out that Aurore asked Felix out on a date! Talk about stabbing someone in the back!”

“Oh my god. Weren’t they like best friends?”

“Emphasis on ‘were.’”

“You’re such a gossip.”

They continued talking about other stuff until Bridgette’s mother called her down for dinner. They said their goodbyes as she got out of bed. Melodie knew just how to cheer her up. She felt a little bit better. She looked to her side and found Tikki curled up next to her pillow and smiled. Other than to eat or to do her business, Tikki never left her side.

After dinner, she decided to take a shower and stretch a little. She hoped her dance instructor would understand her absence. It wasn’t 9 o’clock yet, but Bridgette decided to take some sleeping medicine just in case she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. Again.

She was on the floor when she pulled her knees to her chest. Fear hit her again at the thought of going back to school tomorrow. If she could skip school again, she would. She would skip the rest of the week if she could.

The next morning, she took her time getting out of bed and getting ready. Her mother called for her downstairs to eat breakfast, but she wasn’t hungry. Her stomach felt like it was in knots. She put on her ladybug inspired printed tee to raise her spirits a little, with the touch of her lucky red ribbon.

Once she had her dance attire on, she was on her way to school. She had time, so she took her time walking. The sky was white and grey. There were fewer birds flying than usual. It didn’t look like it was going to rain, although her heart felt like she wanted it to.

As she walked up to the sidewalk of the school, she saw Felix getting out of his car. His hair was fixed like always. He wore his usually black tie, buttoned shirt, vest, and pants attire. She felt like she had a lump in her throat. The front entrance was right there, but before he could look her way, she made a sharp right turn and took the long way around.

*****

Felix had just stepped out his town car. Before he started walking to the front door, he got a text. It was from Nathalie. There was a last-minute business dinner scheduled for him to attend with his father tonight.

He let out a sigh as he looked up and put away his phone in his pocket. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a bright red and black polka-dotted shirt that was all too familiar to him. The image of it was permanent in his mind ever since it crashed into him last week. He whipped his head towards its direction. It was for only half a second before it disappeared around the corner, but he already knew who it belonged to.

Felix felt a hint of relief. If she’s at school, then she must be feeling better. As he continued walking, he remembered what Claude had told him yesterday. His grip on his backpack tightened. Then he felt someone tapping the back of his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was.

“Good morning Felix,” the girl said.

It was, what was her name again? “Ms. Rossi, was it?” Felix asked as he tried to recognize her face.

“Oh, you remembered me?” Lila said as she smiled and pressed a finger to her lips.

“May I help you?” He was straight to the point.

“I was only saying hello,” she giggled. “See you later,” she winked. She left in the direction towards the gymnasium. Felix remembered from Bridgette that the dance team’s practice was held there. She must be a friend of hers, he guessed. Maybe things will look better for her if she just surrounds herself with friends, he thought again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if the story is progressing slowly. I promise it will pick up :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their own version of what they call a "Plan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Nate" is not Nathaniel. I had a friend who wanted his name to be included in this lol his name was Nathan and was too close to Nathaniel :)

Claude and Felix were found hanging out in the library as usual. The other tables were being occupied more and more each day by other female students.

Claude looked around. “You think we should spend our mornings elsewhere Felix?” He chuckled.

“We? I always come here. You just happen to join me,” he said without looking away from his book.

Claude put his hand to his chest pretending to be offended, “So rude. And here I thought this was our official meeting spot.”

“So why exactly do you say we need to move?”

“Oh, NOW it’s ‘we?’”

Felix looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” he chuckled. “Anyways, as I was saying. Don’t you feel uncomfortable with all of them staring? I mean, I don’t mind. I actually feel flattered by the attention,” he smirked. “But I know you have a different opinion.”

Felix shifted his eyes back to his book. “They will stare no matter where we are. At least here, they can’t make too much of a fuss or noise. It’s still a library after all,” he pointed out.

“You’ve got a point, Mr. Popular.”

Felix winced at the name.

“So anyways,” he continued, “has anyone caught your eye?”

“Meaning?”

“You know,” he leaned in closer so they wouldn’t be heard, _“Have you found a girl you might like yet?”_

Felix looked up at him. “No. I thought I already told you I have no interest in romance.”

“Really? I thought you only meant in book genres. You’re like what, 16? And you’re not interested in anybody?”

“I’ll be 16 next month. Also, not everyone needs a love interest.”

Claude started to shout, “YOU’RE BIR – HRMPH!” Felix jumped up to cover Claude’s mouth.

“Don’t. They’ll hear you.” He warned as he took off his hand.

Claude tried to get his breathing back to normal, “Don’t do that! You scared me!”

“Keep your voice down. We’re still in a library in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Claude apologized. He leaned in closer again so the girls couldn’t hear him, _“I didn’t know your birthday was next month?”_

“That’s because I didn’t tell you.” Not only did Felix not want to trouble people, he also didn’t want people to trouble _him_.

At the beginning of the school year, once word got around that Gabriel Agreste’s son was attending public school, over half the school went crazy. During the first week, he was asked to take many pictures. He was able to refuse about 95% of them. The second week was filled with many question from the female students. Questions like, how tall was he, and what did he like? And the third week, several girls kept trying to offer sweets, love letters, and other small gifts to him.

“But wait, couldn’t people look up your birthday, like on the internet or something?” Claude asked.

“I’m not sure. My father was very strict on what information he gives out, and birthday dates were a very private thing to us.” Felix has tried to look up his birthday online before. Luckily, he couldn’t find it. Only dates people _thought_ it was on, such as, in August or in March. He hoped it stayed that way, but he’ll find out when the day comes.

“Can I know when it is? You know, since we’re friends and all.”

“No. Knowing you, you’ll probably make a big deal about it.”

“Come on now. I’ll tell you mine!”

“Why? Are you expecting something from me?” One of the main reasons Felix didn’t want to make friends was because he was afraid they would only use him for his money. He refused to be used and was not going to make that mistake again.

“No. I just thought that we were getting along pretty well, and it’s common among friends to know each other’s birthdays.” Claude would sometimes watch Bridgette and Melodie’s relationship and how super close they were. They were practically like sisters in his eyes. He just kind of thought that maybe he and Felix could get that close. Once Felix started to open up to him little by little, it’s like he saw another side of him.

Claude is no stranger to rumors. He’s heard almost all of them, especially about Felix. _Felix is such a know it all, he thinks he’s so great, I bet he loves all the attention,_ were usually what he heard from the other guys. Claude was assigned to sit next to Felix since day one. Felix never spoke unless he had to, but that didn’t stop Claude from getting to know his classmate.

“Oh,” Felix was surprised. He was quiet for a moment. _“November 11 th,”_ he mumbled lowly.

“What?”

 _“November 11 th,”_ he whispered again under his breath.

“Really? That’s in less than a month. Were you ever gonna tell us unless we asked?”

“Us? And I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“Yes, us. Melodie, Bridgette, and I, of course.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t ‘oh’ me. Do you know how bad we would have felt if we found out we missed your birthday?”

Felix was taken aback by Claude’s little scolding. This felt like déjà vu to him. But from where? “Do they have to know? Do all of you have to know?”

“Of course!” Claude exclaimed. “Unless, you don’t see them as your friends?”

Felix paused. Did he see them as friends? Thinking back on it, the four of them have been talking more than they had before. “Yes?”

“Is that an answer or a question?”

“Both?”

Claude let out a sigh. Baby steps, baby steps, he thought. He guessed Felix was still getting use to them so he let it go for now. “Well you better decide soon because I’m sure they’ll be crushed when your birthday passes and they didn’t get you anything.”

“You don’t have to get me anything.”

“Why, because you already _have_ everything?” he snickered.

“No. I just don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“So what are you into?”

“I said I don’t want to make a big deal out of it Claude.”

Claude pulled out his phone. “What kind of music are you into? You don’t look like you play video games.”

“Claude.”

“Yeeess?” He smirked. “Oh, we should start heading class.” Claude grabbed his backpack and stood up.

“I’m not finished talking with you,” Felix said standing up after him.

“I can’t hear you!” Claude laughed as he started power walking away. Felix tried catching up to him until they reached the classroom. He kept calling out Claude’s name as he laughed away.

“Well aren’t you two in lively spirits this fine morning?” Melodie giggled at the boys.

“Claude, put away your phone,” Felix hissed as he tried to grab it.

Claude placed one hand on Felix’s chest and held his phone with the other, trying to keep it far from him. “Nuh uh. You are getting something for your birthday,” he chuckled.

“What?!” The whole class chimed. Oh, this is just perfect, Felix thought.

“Dude, when is your birthday?” Kim asked.

“Oh my goodness, we should celebrate!” Rose bounced on her toes.

“We could, like, decorate the classroom. Or something,” Juleka added.

“And have cake!” Rose said excitedly.

“Now before we decide anything, we should know when it is first,” Max pointed out.

Felix was stunned. “See?” Claude started. “I’m not the only one,” he said with a mischievous grin.

“No. No party. No decorations. No cake.” Felix crossed his arms.

“Why? You don’t think it’ll be good enough for you?” Melodie stabbed.

He glared at her. “No. That’s not what I said or meant.” He sighed, “Look, I just don’t want to make a big deal out of this.”

“Guys, if he doesn’t want to celebrate it, then we should respect his feelings.”

Felix looked to where the voice came from. Everyone looked to Bridgette. She was sitting at her table writing in her notebook.

“Bridge, if it was Melodie’s birthday, you would try to celebrate it no matter what,” Claude said.

“Well that’s because Melodie _says_ she wants to celebrate it all the time,” she responded without looking up.

“Heck yeah I do! April 17! I like purple. You all heard it!” Melodie pointed at everyone as they all joined together in laughing.

“Why don’t you want to celebrate your birthday?” Mylene asked shyly.

“Yeah,” Rose jumped in. “All of us have been together since middle school. Yours is the only one we don’t know.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Come on Felix,” Claude begged.

Everyone looked to Felix for his approval. “Absolutely not.”

They sulked but they let it go. If he didn’t want to do anything, they would respect his wishes. As they continued to talk amongst each other, Felix walked to his seat. On his way, he stopped beside Bridgette. “How are you feeling Bridgette?”

Bridgette jumped in her seat, surprised by the sudden greeting. She looked up at him. “Huh? O-oh, I’m fine,” she replied and then continued writing in her notebook.

Felix looked down and noticed a second notebook. “Are you copying notes?”

“Um, yeah. You know, because I wasn’t here?” She responded without looking up at him.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, of course. I just wasn’t feeling well yesterday is all,” she laughed nervously.

“I wasn’t talking about that.”

She looked up at him. Their eyes met. She then realized what he was talking about. Her cheeks started glowing a hint of pink before she looked back down. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Felix took the hint that she didn’t want to talk about it any further and continued to his seat. He rested his head on his hand and used the other to tap the table lightly while he watched everyone else and waited for class to start.

He thought back to his past birthdays, and his father’s idea of ‘celebrating’ with their business partners and their stuck-up children. Some of the children were younger than him, some were his age, and the rest were much older. The boys would try to get on his good side, and the girls, no specifics on their age, would try to flirt with him all night. Birthday parties just weren’t meant for everyone.

Everyone quieted down as Ms. Bustier got class started. Felix didn’t have to look. He didn’t even have to use his peripheral vision to know Claude kept staring at him. He knew what he wanted to ask, but ignored it.

*****

Bridgette had to multi-task in writing both yesterday and today’s notes all while listening to Ms. Bustier’s lecture. Lucky her, Melodie had good hand writing. It was clear enough for her to copy.

Melodie tapped Bridgette’s arm and she looked up. _“Can we sit inside for lunch today? I don’t wanna sit in the cold,”_ she whispered.

 _“You sure?”_ Bridgette knew Meldoie wasn’t a fan of the cold air, but she was hoping for the fresh air today after being stuck in her room all day yesterday.

 _“Yeah. I forgot to bring my sweater today.”_ Bridgette nodded understanding. About another hour later, it was finally lunch time. The girls were gathering their things together when Claude walked over.

“So hey, Felix is going to the library during lunch today, and I figured this would be a good time to plan something.” They looked around for Felix but he had already left. Bridgette felt relief when he said this. She was stressing all morning on how to get out of having lunch with Felix if he joined them. She decided to put some distance between them.

Melodie placed a hand on her hip. “Plan for what?”

“A party for Felix’s birthday of course.”

“But I thought he didn’t want one,” Bridgette reminded him.

“It’ll be fun! That guy could learn to loosen up,” he chuckled.

“I don’t know. It sounds like you’re playing with fire here,” Melodie warned.

“I think we should do something!” The three of them turned to the short, pink, pixie like girl. Rose and Juleka walked up them.

“You think we should?” Melodie asked them.

“Of course! It’ll be fun!” Rose said as she clasped her hands together in excitement.

“But what if he gets mad at us?” Juleka jumped in.

“That guy always look mad! Claude’s right, he needs to loosen up.” Everyone turned to Kim as he walked over with Max.

“I’m down if you guys are,” Alix joined in. Everyone else gathered around as well.

“Alright,” Claude started. “Raise your hand if you think we should?” Claude and a few others raised their hands. “5? Okay, now if you think we shouldn’t,” he said as he counted hands again. “5? Wait, that’s a tie. Who didn’t vote?”

“Bri?” Melodie looked at Bridgette.

“I don’t know,” she pondered.

“Well only you can break this tie Bridge,” Claude said as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

She took a minute to think about it. First, she had to think about the distance thing. She thought back to the note and felt a shiver run down her spine. However, she remembered Felix taking the time to help her find Tikki. She wanted to repay him somehow and figured this would be her chance to. “Okay,” she began. “Let’s do something special for him,” she said with a sheepish smile.

Everyone went into a cheer including the people who voted against it. They figured why not?

“Okay, this stays a secret between us. Everything said here doesn’t leave this room, got it?” Claude said. Everyone nodded in agreement. Claude went on telling them when Felix’s birthday was, and made sure everyone had each other’s phone numbers.

Afterwards, everyone headed out to lunch. Claude, Bridgette, and Melodie were walking side by side. “Bri, please tell me you’ll bring food!” Melodie begged.

Bridgette giggled. She had a feeling she would be in charge of the food. Since her parents were busy enough with the bakery, she decided she would make something herself that everyone in class could enjoy. They kept talking about other things as Bridgette wanted to keep her mind distracted.

*****

Felix almost reached the library when someone stopped him.

“We meet again,” the girl giggled.

He turned around. “Ms. Rossi. What can I do for you?”

“You can call me Lila. Mind if I join you?” She smiled.

“I do actually. I’m busy,” he said as he continued walking. She followed him anyways.

“With what?”

“I’m just looking for something.”

“Maybe I can help,” she smirked. He didn’t respond but she persisted anyways.

Wherever he went, she followed casually and continued talking to him. She asked him what kind of books he was into, what kind of music, and if he had any hobbies. He gave her vague answers. She was starting to get on his nerves, but he kept his composer. Lunch was nearly over when –

“I’m sorry. I have to go,” he told her to finally get away.

“W-wait, can I have lunch with you tomorrow?” she pleaded.

Felix looked back at her trying to think of a way to turn her down gently. “I apologize. I don’t know what my plans for tomorrow will be so I cannot make any promises.”

“Then may I please have your number?”

“I don’t wish to give my information out to people I don’t know.”

“Please? You can get to know me better!” She begged.

“Sorry, but I have no interest.” And with that, he went on his way.

He didn’t know where he was headed, but he just wanted to get away. He was outside before he realized it. The courtyard was crowded with many students still eating. He looked around to find Claude, but no luck. No sign of Bridgette or Melodie either.

He decided to just head back to the classroom. On his way back, he noticed a familiar hairstyle. “Bridgette,” he called out.

He noticed her jumping up as he must’ve startled her. She turned around to look at him, “Oh, hey. I’m sorry but I’m in a hurry to the ladies’ room,” she said as she scurried off in the opposite direction. He was hoping to ask her where they were sitting, but thought oh well and continued back to class.

*****

Classes resumed like normal for the rest of the day. School ended before they knew it. Bridgette was packing up her bag when Mel asked, “Do you need me to walk you home? You know, just in case you’re still feeling leftover sickness.”

“No, I’m okay. Thanks though,” she shrugged. To be honest, she didn’t feel like going home. She wanted to keep being distracted. “Hey, want to go to a coffee shop?”

“But you don’t like coffee,” Melodie reminded her.

“I know, but you do. Besides, I’m in the mood for a hot chocolate,” she smiled.

“Okay! But let’s hurry so we can get a good table.”

“Okay,” she chuckled. When she reached for her pencil, she moved too fast and it slipped out of her hand. Before she could react to get it, Felix was already reaching down for it beside her.

“Here,” he said as he handed back her pencil.

“Th-thank you,” she stuttered taking it. He didn’t say anything but stared at her. She felt heat rise in her cheeks. “Wh-what?” she blushed.

“Nothing,” he said and continued walking.

When he finally left, Melodie leaned in beside her, “What was that about?”

“I don’t know. Anyways, lets hurry and get the rest of our stuff.” Both girls grabbed their bags and headed out. When they reached near the locker room, they heard loud voices from inside. They looked at each other before rushing in to find Aurore and Lila arguing.

“HOW AM I THE BACK STABBER WHEN YOU’RE DOING THE SAME THING?!” Aurore yelled.

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING UNLIKE YOU, YOU TRAITOR!” Lila shouted back.

“Don’t lie! I saw you all up on him at lunch you witch!” she pointed at Lila.

“How dare you! I’m not the one who went behind your back and asked him out you hag!”

“ENOUGH!” Bridgette, Melodie, and everyone else in the room turned to Veronica who stepped in and separated both arguing girls. “You’re not children,” she started as she glared at both of them, “either knock it off or take it outside!”

Lila and Aurore were breathing heavily in anger and exhaustion from yelling at each other. Aurore grabbed her bag and stormed away. Lila was about to leave as well until she looked around the room. Bridgette didn’t miss the way Lila glared at her and Melodie before walking out.

Veronica let out a heavy sigh before speaking again, “Now if I catch them or anyone else doing something like this again, I will not hesitate to report it. Got that?” The girls that were there nodded understanding. “Good.”

While the other girls went about their business, Melodie tapped Veronica’s shoulder, “What was that about?”

“I didn’t catch all of it, probably about a boy or something. Anyhow, I gotta go. Gonna go watch my boyfriend practice,” she smiled.

“Ooh, gonna go watch Nate run around?” Melodie teased.

Veronica giggled and said yes before walking out. Nate was a senior as well and Captain of the Tennis team. Melodie remembered Claude going on about how great of a leader he was.

Bridgette sighed, “Must be nice to date.”

Melodie laughed, “I’m sure we’ll find our special someone someday, but for now you’re stuck with me,” she teased. Both laughed as they grabbed their stuff and went about their way to their favorite coffee shop.

As they walked outside, Bridgette began, “Wait, didn’t you tell me over the phone that they were arguing yesterday too?”

“Who? Lila and Aurore? Yeah, they were. What’s so great about Felix anyways? That guy literally always has a straight face. I don’t see how he’s worth losing a friend over.”

Bridgette pondered the thought. Then she remembered the way he smiled over the weekend. She wanted to bring it up, but decided to keep the memory to herself for now.

*****

Later that evening, Felix was finishing up his business lessons with Nathalie before he had to get ready to have dinner with his father and his colleagues.

“We’ll stop here for today,” Nathalie said.

Felix gathered his things and went up to his room. His mind wandered off, dreading the upcoming night.

“Mrow.” Plagg’s meow woke Felix from his thoughts. He placed his things on a nearby table and bent down to pick him up and took him to his couch. Plagg purred as Felix scratched his head.

He sighed. “Plagg, are you happy with your life?”

“Mrow,” he meowed in answer.

“I’ll take that as a maybe.” He sat there for a good ten minutes before changing clothes. There was nothing wrong with what he was wearing, it just had a bunch of cat fur on it now.

Felix was putting on the finishing touch with his tie. He wasn’t looking forward to tonight at all.

 

“Hello Gabriel. It’s good to see you again.” Felix and his father were greeted by Mr. Duet, the main host of the evening. Mr. Duet was on the thicker side. He had red hair and a beard that matched. “Felix, I’m glad you could join us this evening,” the man let out a deep chuckle.

“It’s a pleasure to see you as well Mathew,” Mr. Agreste greeted back as he held out his hand to shake.

“I apologize for not attending last time Mr. Duet,” Felix said as he held out his hand as well.

Mr. Duet shook both their hands, “It’s alright., no harm done. Now, let us go to the dining room.” He said as he led them to the other room. It was a medium sized dining room that looked to be meant for close friends or family.

Felix walked behind his father. When they entered the dining room, there was another man about his father’s and Mr. Duet’s age, a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, and a young woman. She looked around his age.

As they were approaching closer, the older gentleman stepped forward. “Felix,” Mr. Duet started, “I believe you know Nicholas Loupe.”

“Yes, how do you do sir?” Felix reached out his hand.

“It’s good to see you again Felix. You too Gabriel,” Mr. Loupe smiled as he shook their hands. He had slick, black hair and a trimmed beard that was a mix of black and gray hairs. Then he held out his hand to gesture towards the twenty something year old man, “This is my son, Noah.” Noah had short, jet-black hair with brown eyes, and was wearing a casual black suit with no tie.

“And this is my daughter, Alice,” Mr. Duet held out his hand towards the young woman to bring her forward. “My pride and joy,” he chuckled.

The young woman giggled, “Oh father, you’re too much. Hello Mr. Agreste. Hello Felix,” she greeted as more hand shaking went around. She had strawberry-blonde hair that was pulled back into a low bun, green eyes, and wore a light blue dress with cap sleeves that went down to her knees. Felix didn’t miss the way she blushed when he shook her hand.

Dinner was going smoothly. However, the evening was going too slow for Felix’s mood. He lost count how many times he wished the night was over. The conversations were going exactly as he predicted. He praised his father, check. They talked about him taking over the business one day, check. The food is delicious, check. The only thing he didn’t plan on was sitting next to Alice.

“Oh, that reminds me Felix,” Felix directed his attention towards Mr. Duet, “You are attending public school, correct?”

“Oh my goodness, you’re attending public school?” Alice chimed in.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“How is it? Is it fun?” Alice asked.

“It’s fine I suppose,” he answered directly.

“I heard you were home schooled before. What made you change?” Alice asked.

Mr. Agreste let out a small cough into his hand. Everyone shifted their attention to him. Then he spoke, “It was my late wife’s plan a few years back, that he should learn to socialize with people his age. I was against it, of course, but Felix insisted that he should go.”

A few months before the school year started, Mr. Agreste gave Felix the option to either continue home schooling, or to attend public school. Felix almost chose to stay at home until his father mentioned that it was his mother’s idea. His father was the one person he obeyed no matter what, but his mother on the other hand, was the one he willingly chose to listen to.

Felix was getting lost in his thoughts until Alice spoke to him again. “I bet you’re really popular at school,” she said as she casually leaned in about an inch closer and perched her chin on her hand.

He winced at her sentence. “I don’t know about that,” he replied as he took a sip from his drink.

She let out a giggle and continued to ask a few more questions until Mr. Agreste stood up saying it was getting late and they should be going. Everyone said their goodbyes and the Agreste men were on their way home.

Felix and his father were sitting in their limo quietly. That is until –

“So what did you think of Ms. Duet?” his father asked.

 _Here we go._ “She was fine.”

“I think being acquainted with her will prove to be very helpful for your future. Please keep that in mind.”

“Yes father,” he replied, wondering if the car could go any faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to post my next chapter on my birthday :P


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Bridgette): 'Why does everything happen to me?'  
> (Felix): 'I'm just trying to do a good deed!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize this chapter took a while longer. I wasn't able to post it on my b-day last weekend and things kept happening here and there throughout the week DX so I couldn't type. But here it is!

Bridgette woke up to her phone vibrating from a call. She slowly opened her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness of her phone. It was Melodie calling. She pressed ‘Accept’ and put her phone up to her ear.

“Hello?”

_“Hey, it’s me. You up?”_

“Now I am,” she yawned.

_“Sorry. I was calling to ask if I could borrow a pair of tights? Manon ripped one of mine this morning and there wasn’t time to do laundry. I’m almost to your house.”_

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll meet you down there.”

“ _Okay, thank you!”_ Bridgette hung up her phone and got out of bed. She switched out of her pink shorts to put on some pink pajama pants. She went to her mirror to check if her face looked alright. It was getting better. She still had some dark circles from the other night and had to put on some foundation so others wouldn’t notice yesterday. Thank god for makeup. She quickly put a little under her eyes so Melodie wouldn’t notice when she arrived. She thought back to yesterday after school when Felix picked up her pencil, and how he stared at her. Did he notice her eyes? Could he tell she was wearing makeup? Nah, he wouldn’t think about such things, she thought.

Bridgette headed downstairs to use the restroom. Afterwards, she headed towards their side door that led outside. There was a knock on the door. Bridgette opened the door to her friend standing outside.

“Hey girl. Your queen has arrived,” Melodie grinned as she put her hands on her hips and posed.

Bridgette giggled, “Welcome your highness,” she said as she gestured for her to come inside. She looked up and down at her friend. “Did you walk here in your pajamas?”

Melodie looked down at her clothes. She wore a lilac colored cardigan, a dark, purple t-shirt, and grey polka-dotted pajama pants stuffed into some chestnut UGG knockoff boots. “Yeah, I figured there was no point in getting fully dressed without the tights,” she chuckled. Bridgette noticed Melodie’s duffle bag was more stuffed than usual. The rest of her practice and school clothes must be in there, she guessed.

“I suppose you’re right. Okay, follow me.” Bridgette led the way upstairs to her room.  When they reached her room, she walked over to her dresser and pulled out an extra pair of black tights and handed them to Melodie as they proceeded to get dressed. Melodie stayed in her purple shirt, while Bridgette switched to a loose, white tee with huge black, polka dots.

“I’m so glad we’re both the same size,” Melodie said as they both laughed.

“I’m sure you are,” she replied trying to put her hair into a high bun. Melodie was next to her trying to put her own hair into a high ponytail. When done with her hair, Bridgette looked down. “Hey Mel?”

“Hm?” Melodie hummed in response with a bobby pin in her mouth.

“Do you think that maybe,” she started.

“Maybe what?” Melodie asked without looking away from her reflection.

“Maybe we don’t sit with Claude and Felix at lunch today?”

She looked at her. “Why?” Bridgette didn’t say anything. “Is this about what happened last week? I thought it was already taken care of? I mean, we still don’t have to sit with them, but why now?”

Bridgette didn’t say anything and only grimaced.

Melodie put down her hairbrush and grabbed Bridgette. “Did something else happen?” She didn’t reply. Melodie walked her over to her bed for both of them to sit down. “What happened?”

“We gotta go to school. Can we talk about this later?” she said trying to fight back her tears.

Melodie wanted to push to get an answer, but decided to do as she wanted. She figured they probably didn’t have enough time to talk about it right now anyways. They finished up getting ready before they were on their way out. Bridgette wrapped her hair bun with her silky, red ribbon while Melodie gathered her things together.

After Bridgette grabbed them both to-go breakfasts, they went about their way to school. Melodie talked about the birds and how a few were left here and there. Bridgette mentioned how much she liked the grey, white sky and how cloudy it was, and Melodie continued to complain about how colder it was getting.

When they walked up to the school’s sidewalk, Bridgette looked around. There was no sign of Felix, yet. She wanted to hurry up and get inside before he showed up. While they were walking up the stairs, there was a sound of a car pulling up behind them and there was no way she was going to look back to see who it was. Bridgette walked up the stairs a bit faster leaving Melodie behind a bit until she caught up with her. Once inside the doors, she grabbed her friend’s arm and power walked faster to the gym.

“Girl, hold up. We have time.”

“I’m sorry. I just wanna get there sooner.”

Melodie didn’t have to ask to know why. She just let herself be carried away. “Okay but ease up on the sweater,” she chuckled.

“Sorry,” Bridgette apologized.

*****

Felix was stepping out of his car as he looked up and recognized the back of both Bridgette and Melodie’s heads. _They sure are in a hurry_ , he thought to himself. Before taking another step, he looked up again as he noticed something red fluttering down. He walked up the stairs towards where it landed and bent down to pick up the red object that fell. It was a long piece of red ribbon. It took him another second to realize it was Bridgette’s.

He looked towards the door where the girls disappeared into. Felix continued walking up the stairs and went inside. Once inside the building, he looked around. Bridgette was nowhere around, and neither was Melodie. He let out a sigh and looked back down at the ribbon in his hand. There was something stitched on the end of one side of the red ribbon in black. It was the letter ‘B’ in cursive, and it was easy to assume it stood for her name.

Felix decided to just give Bridgette’s ribbon back to her in class later. Before heading towards the library, he thought a change of pace wasn’t a bad idea. The air outside felt nice that he felt the need to sit out in the courtyard at one of the tables. He folded the piece of ribbon neatly and slipped it into his front pocket.

Before taking a step towards the courtyard, he remembered about Claude. Claude wouldn’t know where he was. Felix pulled out phone before realizing he didn’t have Claude’s number. In fact, he didn’t have any of his classmates’ phone numbers. Was that sad?

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and proceeded walking towards the library. As he was nearing the doors leading inside the library, a familiar voice called out his name.

“Felix! Hey,” Claude greeted from behind him. Speak of the devil.

“Hello,” Felix greeted back. It was perfect timing. He gently opened the library door a little to peek inside, many tables were already taken up by some of the female students.

“Aren’t we going in?” Claude asked peeking inside above Felix’s head.

Felix closed the door and took a step back making Claude also take a step back. “Actually, I was thinking a change in location for this morning would be nice.”

“Oh? That’s new. What did you have in mind?”

“Would you like to sit outside?”

Claude was taken aback a little. If it had been about three or four weeks ago, Felix wouldn’t have even asked. He’d just leave and go as he pleased. The fact that he was asking him first hand, made him a little happy.

Claude threw his arm around Felix, “Sure! I don’t mind,” he smiled as he lead the way to the courtyard.

Felix let out a little grunt, “Can I have some personal space please?”

“Nope!” he chuckled.

When they reached outside, they looked around for a table or bench to sit on. Among the many students, they managed to find an empty table.

They sat down as Claude asked, “So what made you want to come out here?”

“I just thought the morning looked nice is all.”

Claude looked up at the sky. “Yeah I suppose. Although, I prefer when the sky is blue.”

Felix looked up at the sky as well. “I’m actually kind of fond of the grey and white sky myself.”

“Yeah that sounds like you,” he teased. “I’m more of a Summer person.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because my birthday is in the Summer I suppose.”

“I see.” He figured that also meant his birthday already passed before school even started. “Oh before I forget. I don’t have your number Claude.”

 _Am I being pranked right now?_ “D-did you want my number? You never really bothered with that kind of stuff before.”

“Well it’s more of a cautionary for the future. Just in case.”

“Oh okay, sure! Hand me your phone.”

Felix took out his phone, unlocked it and handed it to him. Claude took a second to admire his fancy, shiny phone before adding his number to Felix’s contacts list. Felix heard a small vibration coming from Claude’s pocket. Claude took out his own phone that he sent a text to from Felix’s phone to make it easier to save his number.

“Okay, there,” Claude finished adding Felix to his contacts before pausing holding both phones.

Felix looked at him curiously, “What is it?”

“Nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted Bridgette and Melodie’s numbers too? But I’m thinking it would be better if they gave them to you themselves, because you know? It’s their private information and all.”

Felix couldn’t think of a reason to need their numbers. If he was with Claude, he could just ask him. “It’s alright. There’s no need. Thank you though,” he said reaching for his phone back.

“No problem,” Claude said handing him back his phone. Claude went on asking him about their homework as Felix looked at the sky he liked so much.

*****

Bridgette was stretching on the floor when Rose came up to her. “Hey, Bridgette?”

“Yeah Rose?”

“Where’s your cute red ribbon?”

Bridgette whipped her head up to look at her. “What are you talking about?” she asked as she moved her hands to touch her hair. She started to panic as she kept searching around her hair bun.

Melodie looked at her hair, “Yeah, where is it? I remember seeing you tie it before we left.”

Bridgette immediately stood up. “Did it fall off?” She asked with a worried look on her face. She looked at the floor space around them and further around. As she was about to walk back to the locker room, Melodie grabbed her hand.

“Hey, Ms. Leroux will be here any second. You don’t have time to look for it right now.”

Bridgette wanted to argue but knew she was right and stayed put.

 

Once practice was over, Bridgette ran to the locker room. She looked all around the room on the floor for her ribbon. It was nowhere. She looked in her locker. It wasn’t there either.

Melodie came up next to her and rubbed her back. “It’ll be okay. It probably fell somewhere in the hallways.”

“What if someone already threw it away?” She started tearing up a bit.

“Maybe someone turned it into the Lost & Found?”

“Mel, to me that ribbon means something. To others, it’s just a piece of ribbon.”

Melodie didn’t know what to say. She knew how much Bridgette loved that red ribbon. Her grandmother gave it to her several years ago as a good luck charm. Sure, it was just a piece of ribbon, but it meant more to her because it came from someone she loved dearly.

“Alright, calm down. We have time before class starts. Let’s change and then go out and retrace our steps.”

Bridgette took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. “Okay,” she agreed.

“It’s just a stupid piece of string. It’s probably already in the trash right now.”

Both girls looked in the direction of the voice. “Lila!” Melodie shouted.

“What? It’s probably true,” she smirked walking away.

Melodie turned back to her friend, “Don’t listen to her.” They continued getting ready before heading out. Bridgette did as she suggested and retraced their steps back to the front of the school. No luck. She started to worry all over again when Melodie said they needed to start walking to class.

*****

As Claude and Felix walked into the classroom, Felix went straight to his seat while Claude walked over to Bridgette and Melodie’s table to say hello.

Bridgette was at her seat staring at the table looking dejected. Claude took notice, and before he could ask anything, Ms. Bustier walked in and had everyone sit down.

A few hours went by and Felix realized he forgot to give Bridgette her ribbon back. He guessed he got too engrossed in his conversation with Claude that morning. He’ll to give it back to her at lunch instead.

 

Lunch time came around, and Felix hoped Claude and his pushy self would ask if they could join the girls. He felt it to be cowardice of himself a little but he’s never made the first move on something like this. Would one call this being too shy or just awkward?

“Did you have any lunch plans Felix?” Claude asked.

“Nothing in particular, why?”

“Well I was texting Melodie and she said her and Bridgette were gonna have a girl’s lunch only kinda thing with some of the other girls in class.”

“Girl’s lunch only? That’s kinda lame,” Kim jumped in on the conversation. “I say we have a guy’s only lunch,” he chuckled. “You guys in?” Kim looked to Max and then to Claude.

Claude perked up, “I’m in!” He gave a quick high five to Kim before looking to Felix. “Felix is in too,” he grinned.

Before Felix could object, Kim put his arm around his shoulders so he wouldn’t escape. _What is with everyone putting their arm around me!?_

“Great! Let’s go!” Kim led the way as Claude and Max followed. Claude laughed most of the time, Felix grimaced at how loud Claude and Kim were, and Max did his usual of putting in his own logical input here and there.

 

After lunch, Felix was hoping to get the chance to give Bridgette back her ribbon, but the girls didn’t come back to the classroom until the last minute. They weren’t sitting near each other for him to talk to her, and when they had to switch classes, he kept missing his chance with other people getting in the way. This repeated throughout the day.

It was after school now. He thought maybe _now_ he could give her back her ribbon. He got up to go talk to her. As he stood next her, “Hey.”

Bridgette turned around to look at him. “H-hi!” She looked nervous. “I’m sorry. I gotta be somewhere.” She grabbed her bag and power walked out the classroom.

Felix stood there as he stared after her. He didn’t really know how to respond. He looked to Melodie but she was gone too.

“You okay dude?” Claude asked coming up next to him.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” _Was I?_ He thought to himself. He couldn’t put a name to what he was feeling in his chest at the moment.

When he got home, he went straight to his room. He had the afternoon off.

“Mrow,” Plagg meowed following his master wherever he went.

Felix walked over to his bedside table. He took the silky red ribbon out from his pocket and placed it in the table drawer. Tomorrow he’ll definitely return it.

That night he ate dinner by himself. Again. His father had another late night that night. Well, he wasn’t completely alone. Plagg was laying down besides his feet eating a piece of camembert. It wasn’t so bad. It felt like any other day. But something did feel off. _Was it always this quiet?_

Felix thought back to lunch earlier that day. He knew Claude was the energetic type, but he wasn’t always _that_ spirited up before. Him and Kim would toss up food into the air and try to catch it with their mouth, competing on how high they could go. Claude won. Even Max joined in trying to strategize.

He felt himself smile at the memory before shaking his head out of the thought. _What am I thinking?_

 

The next day, he tried again to give back the ribbon. However, something or someone always popped up, making him miss his chance. The girls didn’t arrive until last minute to class in the morning. Something about their practice was running longer than usual. And then they had another ‘girl’s lunch,’ so that meant he had another ‘guy’s lunch’ as well. Not that he was complaining, he found himself slightly enjoying Kim and Claude’s antics.

Today, they had Nathaniel join them. He was very quiet while drawing in his sketchbook. He was working on some comic of his. Felix didn’t want to pry into his business.

“Hey Nathaniel,” Kim said.

“Yes?” He answered without looking up.

“Didn’t you have a crush on Bridgette last year?”

Everyone froze. Nathaniel looked up and started to blush super red. It almost matched his hair. “Wh-what?”

Felix whipped his head towards him. Why was he so surprised to hear that?

“Yeah, I heard from Alix that you were crushing on her last year. Have you made a move yet?” He smirked.

“Th-that was l-last year,” he managed to stutter out.

“What? I didn’t hear about this!” Claude chimed in.

Kim replied, “I heard about it before you transferred into our class last year.”

Max let out a cough into his hand. “It doesn’t seem like he wants to talk about it.”

“Why not? We’re all friends here, aren’t we? You should ask her to the Halloween dance next weekend.” Kim suggested.

“N-no, it’s alright. I don’t think I’m going. I’m not the dancing type.”

“What dance?” Felix asked.

“Oh, I think I heard one of my teammates talking about it yesterday,” Claude added.

“Yeah, people started talking about it yesterday, but the official announcement isn’t until after school today. Me, Max, and Alix are all going.”

“You mean Max, Alix, and I, and yes, we are attending. I don’t doubt that’s what the girls may be discussing as we speak right now,” Max noted. Both yesterday and today, Bridgette, Melodie, Rose, Juleka, and Alix were eating lunch together. Mylene and Ivan were off somewhere else.

“Well that explains a lot,” Claude chuckled. “I am definitely going. What about you Felix?”

Felix didn’t know how to answer. He’s never been to a school event before. Would his father even let him go? What do you even do at these things? What do you wear? Halloween meant costumes, and he hasn’t worn a costume since he was maybe a toddler when his mother was around.

“iix? Feelliix? FELIX!”

Felix snapped out of his thoughts. “What?”

“I asked if you were going?” Claude stared at him.

“Uh, I’ll have to check with my father first.”

“Oh okay. Let me know so we can go together!” he smiled.

“Are you asking him to be your date Claude?” Kim teased.

“Hey! No! You’re going with friends so, why can’t I?” He huffed.

“Sure,” he chuckled before turning back to Nathaniel. “You sure you don’t want to ask Bridgette Nath?”

Felix winced. He didn’t notice and neither did the others.

“N-no, it’s okay. She wouldn’t want to go with someone as quiet as me anyways,” he smiled a sad smile.

“You don’t know until you try,” Claude added. “Since it’s a Halloween dance, do we wear costumes?”

Max fixed his glasses on his face. “We’re not sure. I suppose that information will be included in the announcement this afternoon. I heard last year everyone wore orange, so we can assume they will have a theme already picked out.”

The group laughed at the thought as they continued discussing their plans for the weekend. Felix didn’t miss how quiet Nathaniel stayed the rest of the lunch period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited it's finally going in this direction now. Stay tuned!


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has their own problems. My heart goes out to Melodie this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the longer wait!!!  
> I promise to try to not take as long in the future DX  
> Also Beware: Kind of a girly chapter up ahead XD

“You’re singing at the dance Juleka? That’s amazing!” Bridgette gasped.

“I know right!” Rose chimed in. “She has such an amazing voice!”

The girls were sitting together inside during lunch because two out of the five of them felt it to be too chilly to be outside.

Juleka blushed nervously. “Well I’m not singing the entire time. Just a couple of songs.”

“Still, I heard there was an audition. Congratulations!” All four girls clapped softly as Jukela blushed some more.

“Kim is making me go with him and Max,” Alix huffed.

“You know you don’t have to,” Melodie pointed out.

“W-well, I don’t really mind,” she slightly blushed as the others giggled.

“Have people found dates yet?” Melodie asked.

“I think there’s only a handful of people who know so far so maybe not. They’re announcing it after school today,” Juleka added.

“Why? Do you have someone in mind Melodie?” Rose teased.

“I-I don’t know,” she blushed.

Bridgette looked at her. She was a little confused. After spilling to Melodie about the second note yesterday, and what she was going through, her friend failed to mention anything about a possible crush.

“What about you Bridgette?”

“No, I don’t really have anyone in mind. What about you two?”

Rose sat up straighter, “I thought about asking this one boy from the class next door. And Juleka says she’ll probably be too busy with singing on stage.”

“Yeah, and I’m not really interested in anyone anyways so it’s fine,” Juleka shrugged, looking away.

The girls wanted to talk about what they would wear until Juleka mentioned there was suppose to be a theme that went along with it. Rose was overly excited, Bridgette and Melodie planned to meet up over the weekend to figure out their outfits together, and Alix and Juleka just prayed it was a scary costume party.

As lunch was nearing its end, the girls took their time getting back to class. They were too engrossed in their conversations and excitement. As they entered the classroom, they walked into Kim teasing Nathaniel about something. Bridgette knew how sensitive Nathaniel could be since she’s known him since primary school.

“Kim, are you messing with Nathaniel again?” She asked sternly placing her hands on her hips glaring at him.

“Who, me? Never!” He grinned looking back at Nathaniel.

Ms. Bustier walked in and told everyone to sit. Bridgette walked over to Nathaniel to ask him if he was alright.

“I-I’m fine,” he managed to stutter out before walking back to his seat. She returned to her seat as well as Ms. Bustier continued her lessons.

Instead of paying attention, her mind wandered off. She started thinking about Nathaniel and how she hasn’t really talked to him very much in the past two years. She remembers him confessing his feelings for her two years ago during middle school, and had turned him down. He was such a sweet and nice boy, but she just didn’t feel that way about him. Since then, they rarely talked.

It made her feel awful because they were such good friends before. When she found out they were in the same classes this year, she thought it would be a good chance to become friends again. Sadly, it didn’t turn out that way.

Later, as they were switching classrooms, Felix came up to her. However, fear struck in her mind as she panicked and made up an excuse to go to the restroom. Melodie followed her to see if she was alright.

“You okay?”

“Listen Mel, can you do me a favor and please make sure I don’t go near Felix? I just can’t…”

“Okay, okay,” she said trying to calm down her friend. “I’ll help you, don’t worry.” And she kept her word. When switching classes for the rest of the day Melodie made sure Felix and Bridgette kept their distances.

School was nearing its end for the week when the announcements came on.

“ ** _Good afternoon students,”_** Principal Damocles started. **_“Next Saturday night, we will be having our annual Halloween Dance. It will begin at 7pm and end at 11. This year’s theme will be a Masquerade Ball! Wearing a mask is optional of course. Please dress appropriately and anyone who causes mischief will be asked to leave the premises.”_**

*****

He went on talking about how anyone is free to join the set-up committee, and they are looking for people to put up posters and such. He finally signed off wishing everyone a good weekend.

Almost everyone in class became excited. Felix being a part of the ‘almost’ group. He wasn’t a huge fan of dancing or big parties. He’s attended enough in his life and knew there would be many more to come. If he could sit one out, he’ll take that chance.

Claude turned to look at him, “Please tell me you’ll try to come next Saturday!” He begged.

Felix had already told him he would ask his father earlier. It felt more like an excuse to not go. He just told Claude he’ll see, which meant he would most likely not go. Claude looked sad but understood and told him if he ever reconsidered, to let him know first.

The bell finally rang, and Felix took it upon himself to finally return Bridgette’s ribbon. As he grabbed his bag and started walking towards her, Kim jumped in his way arguing with Alix about something. He tried to walk around them, but with everyone standing trying to leave as well, his path was blocked. Bridgette and Melodie were closer to the door than he was so by the time he made it to the door, they were already far away.

He tried to power walk while keeping his composure to catch up to them, but no luck. He couldn’t see them anymore. He walked up to the front entrance, and they weren’t outside either. He let out a heavy sigh as he saw his ride. He didn’t have the time to go back inside and look for her and decided to just give it back to her next week.

*****

Bridgette and Melodie were getting the rest of their stuff from their lockers.

“There’s still no sign of my ribbon. It’s been two days now. I bet it’s already in the trash can or dumpster by now,” she sighed softly.

“I’m sorry,” Melodie apologized. It felt right at the moment.

“It’s fine I suppose. I can’t do much about it now anyways. Wanna go to a coffee shop to talk about what our plans will be for this weekend?” She smiled.

“Yes! We have much to discuss!” She grabbed Bridgette’s arm and dragged her out of the locker room. Bridgette laughed as she let herself be carried away.

They went to their favorite coffee shop to talk about what they would wear next weekend. Bridgette had her hot chocolate, and Melodie had a caramel mocha coffee.

“It’s getting colder and the days are getting shorter!” Melodie shivered as she tried to take a sip of her coffee to warm up.

“I think it’s nice,” Bridgette chuckled.

“Of course, you would think that Miss Night Owl. Now, I already have a color theme I want to do.”

“Let me guess, purple?” She laughed again.

“Of course! What else is there?” Both laughed, but not too loudly so they wouldn’t attract too much attention.

“Well, we can look in both of our closets and see what we have currently?” Bridgette suggested.

Melodie placed her chin on her hand as she stirred her drink with the other. “I highly doubt I have anything good in my closet,” she pouted.

“Well, let’s look first before we decide to go out and buy anything. We can look in my closet and yours today, and if we don’t find anything, we can visit some boutiques tomorrow. Sound good?”

Melodie sighed, “Okay. At least we both have money saved up, right?”

“Right,” Bridgette smiled. She had money she earned by helping her parents at their bakery, while Melodie had earned hers while babysitting her sister.

“Okay, but for sure we are shopping for shoes. No butts.”

As they finished up their drinks, they headed to Melodie’s house first since it was further away. Her parents were still at work and Manon was at her grandparents’ house, so she was free from babysitting for the evening.

As they reached Melodie’s room, they dropped their bags by her desk and headed straight for the closet. Melodie searched through the hanged clothing on one side while Bridgette searched through the other.

“Ugh, there’s nothing good. Some of these are either old or out of style. I can’t remember the last time I bought a dress.” Melodie became frustrated as she gave up.

Bridgette was still searching until she noticed something stand out to her. It was a plain, short, strapless red dress that flowed downwards from the hips. It was cute but felt like it needed more. “When did you get this Mel?”

Melodie looked back at her to what she was referring to. “That? Oh, I didn’t buy that. I think my aunt got it for me last Christmas.”

“Why haven’t you worn it? It’s cute.”

“Mm, red’s not really my color. Also, it didn’t look that great on me either. She was sort of a distant aunt so she didn’t really know what I was into or what looked good on me.”

Bridgette continued to stare at it. Red may not be Melodie’s color, but she felt like it was hers. “Hey, if you don’t want it, can I buy it from you?”

Melodie looked at her with a surprised look. “Maybe you should try it on first. I know what you’re thinking, but you won’t know for sure until you try it on,” she chuckled.

Bridgette took her advice and began to undress as Melodie looked away to give her some privacy. Once she had it on, she couldn’t very well zip it up from the back. “Mel? Give me a hand?”

Melodie giggled as she helped zip her up. She took a step back to take a good look at her, “Mmm.”

“What?” Bridgette asked nervously. She was beginning to think that maybe she was wrong and it didn’t look good on her.

“It looks really good on you, but it’s missing something. Here, let down your hair,” Melodie said as she took Bridgette’s hair out of her pigtails. “Okay, that looks better, much better, but it’s still missing something.”

“Yeah, it is a bit plain. I was thinking of bedazzling it maybe?”

Melodie snapped her fingers, “Yes! That could work!”

“So, can I buy it off of you? I know it was a gift and all –”

“Yeah, but now I’m gifting it to you. Rather than it collecting dust in my closet, someone needs to take this dress for a night out!” she laughed. “Just think of it as an early Christmas gift.”

Bridgette ran over to her best friend to give her a hug, “Thank you!”

“You’re welcome. But we still need to find something for me,” she giggled.

“I know I know. Let’s go to my place and see what we can find.” Bridgette changed back into her day clothes. Melodie left her bag at home while Bridgette grabbed hers along with her new dress. The sun was setting outside, but Melodie didn’t mind it too much since they were on a mission that evening.

They finally reached Bridgette’s house and headed inside. They said hello to her parents as they were closing the bakery for the evening. Bridgette’s mother offered Melodie to stay for dinner if she didn’t have any plans and there was no hesitation when she immediately agreed.

They headed upstairs to her room and were welcomed by a fuzzy, white cat.

“Hi Tikki!” Melodie greeted her with excitement as she picked her up. Tikki didn’t fight it and let herself be picked up.

Bridgette placed her bag on her bed before heading to her closet. Melodie set down Tikki and joined her. “Now, let’s take a look,” Bridgette started. They each took a side and went through every hanger, high and low. Bridgette found some cute dresses, but nothing in Melodie’s taste or even fit for a dance.

“Oh, my dear lord for all that is pure and good. What. Is. This?!” Melodie took out a long, thick, gold gown that that had puffy shoulders and long sleeves with several long, golden, sheer overlays. It looked like a magical disaster.

“Um, I can explain.”

“Please do before I disown you as my best friend.”

Bridgette began to laugh, “It was my great grandmother’s dress from my father’s side of the family. Apparently, it was in style back then.”

Melodie breathed out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank goodness. For a minute, I thought someone possessed you. Why do you have it?”

“They said I could have it since no one else wanted it.”

“Why did you want this work of art? No offense.”

“I thought I could maybe cut it up and make a new dress out of it?”

“That makes sense. Now I can call you my best friend again,” she giggled.

“Wait, I was already disowned?” Bridgette let a loud laugh and could barely stop. Melodie joined her. Once they finally settled down, Melodie put the dress back in the closet to finish her search. By the end, they didn’t find anything.

“Well,” Melodie started, “it looks like we’re going shopping.”

“I’m sorry Mel,” Bridgette apologized.

“It’s okay. I like shopping anyways. I just hope we can find something.”

“Plus, I need to find matching shoes, too!” Bridgette took out the dress from her bag and hanged it up in her closet. Just as the girls were settling in, Bridgette’s mother called them down for dinner. Melodie was the first one down because of her excitement for her parents’ cooking. The rest of the evening went well with nothing out of the ordinary.

 

The next morning, Bridgette woke up bright and early for her and Melodie’s shopping day. Lucky for them, it was one of those random warm days in the cooler season, so they both decided to wear shorts and flats. Melodie was thankful because this made it easier to try on dresses and shoes.

Their first stop was a boutique that was popular among their school. It had a lot of cute short dresses that were appropriate enough for a school event. But to their surprised but not so shocked selves, the store was filled with girls from their school

“Nuh-uh. Nope. Not happening. We’re going somewhere else,” Melodie said with an annoyed face.

“Why?” Bridgette asked confused.

“About half the school is here. I’m not gonna buy a dress that another girl will be wearing. That’s so awkward and lame. Come on, let’s go,” Melodie said walking out the store towards the sidewalk.

Bridgette followed, understanding her statement. Guys can wear the same suit and no one would care, but girls will be damned if they’re caught copying another girl.

They headed down the block to another boutique, and again, the store was filled with girls from their school. They tried another one, one that was a bit smaller, and it was also filled with girls.

“Bridgette, I’m sorry I’m so picky.”

Bridgette giggled, “It’s okay, I understand. But before we go any further, can we stop by somewhere really quick?”

“Uh, sure. Where?” Bridgette led her friend around the corner into a small store. Melodie looked around confused. It wasn’t exactly a boutique they were looking for. It was a store filled with dance attire.

“Welco– Oh, Bridgette! Hello!” The store sales lady greeted them with a huge smile.

“Hello Ms. Katie,” Bridgette greeted back. Melodie looked around the store as they made small talk. Before she knew it, Bridgette started walking to the other side other side of the store with the young woman.

“What are you looking for?” She decided to ask.

“Oh, I’m looking for jewels and beads I can sew onto the dress.”

“Oh! Like you told me!” Melodie went over to her to see if she could help. They searched through the different colors and styles of accessories. There were so many options.

Bridgette took a moment to think. A thought came to her. Here favorite black polka dotted, red shirt she wore to practice a lot. She grabbed several bags of black rhinestones and super glue. “I’ve got an idea,” she told Melodie. She paid for her items and said her goodbyes to the sales lady. She dragged her friend to another store. It was a fabric store. Bridgette walked down the aisles leaving her friend at the front confused, again.

She went to a section that was nothing but Red. She picked out a bright, red, sheer fabric bolt and walked over to the register. Melodie walked over to her and figured out what her plan was and loved it so far. After paying, they continued to their search to find Melodie’s perfect dress.

Every store so far was the same. Filled with girls, some they recognized and some they didn’t. They were near the edge of the city and thought it felt hopeless after walking for about an hour and a half.

“Maybe we should just take a cab back to that first store. I don’t think there are any more stores,” Melodie suggested feeling dejected.

Bridgette felt bad for her. She knew that Melodie was looking forward to this more than she was. As they were passing by a store with glass windows, Bridgette noticed it was a shoe store with a huge Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off sign.

“How about we at least get shoes first?” Bridgette suggested. “They have a sa-ale! ♪” She sang.

That made her friend smile as they walked into the store. They went to section that had different types of heels. Bridgette found herself a nice pair of bright, red platform pumps with ankle straps. Melodie continued looking.

“I think it’ll be kind of hard since I don’t know what color my dress will be,” she wondered.

“Aren’t you getting purple?”

“Yeah, but there’s different shades of purple.” Melodie ended up not getting anything while Bridgette found a pair of beige loafers to buy to get the Sale deal. As they walked out the store, Bridgette felt bad that she was already holding several bags of items while Melodie hadn’t bought anything.

“Maybe it’ll be okay. Maybe you’ll forget about what you’re wearing when you’re too busy dancing. Maybe you’ll dance with that crush of yours you never bothered to mention to me, your best friend.” Bridgette didn’t forget their conversation at lunch from the previous day.

“O-oh that? Well, I don’t know if I would call it a crush. I’m sorry if I didn’t say anything. I wanted to sort out my feelings before I said anything,” she blushed.

“Well, how about we get a late lunch and you can tell me everything. I don’t like the feeling of not knowing.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Both girls went into the nearest restaurant they could. They were too hungry to care where they were eating. They ordered their food and went to sit.

“So, who is it?” Bridgette asked.

“Straight to the point I see,” Melodie chuckled. “Well, he’s in our class.”

Bridgette tried to think of the guys in their class. Ivan is already taken. Kim was too crazy wild for her. She’s never really spent any time with Max. Nathaniel was nice but he was too quiet for her taste. She’s always picking on Felix, but then again, boys pick on girls they like…

“Oh my god. It’s Felix?”

Melodie’s body froze as her eyes grew wide. “WHAT!?” She shouted in horror before apologizing to the people around them for raising her voice. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I’m sorry? So, it’s not Felix?”

“No, it’s Claude.”

Bridgette’s mouth dropped. “Claude? Really? Well now that I think about it, he is cute.”

“I think he’s really nice,” Melodie smiled while looking down at her food.

Bridgette didn’t miss the way her cheeks flushed. “So how long have you felt this way?”

“I’m not sure. For the past few weeks maybe? I wanted to get to know him a little better before I knew for sure.”

“Well you got my support. I think he’d be nice to you. He’s sporty, you’re very active. He’s funny and what girl doesn’t like that. He’s not rude. I think you two would have a lot of fun.”

“So, you don’t like him at all?” She asked.

“Mm,” she placed a finger to her chin. “I don’t think I really saw him that way. Just more as a friend I suppose. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” she smiled.

Melodie felt like she was at peace. She was glad to have Bridgette as her best friend to talk to her about almost anything.

They stayed there talking for another half hour finishing their food. They threw away their trash and caught a cab back closer to the first boutiques they looked at. But before they continued shopping, Bridgette stopped by her place to drop off what she had bought so far so she didn’t have to keep carrying them. Then they were off finding Melodie a dress. Again. They had the cab driver take them to the 4th store they had visited that morning.

“This place didn’t have that many people when we came earlier, so maybe we’ll find something nice,” Bridgette said trying to cheer her friend up.

They stuck to the dresses that were purple or close to purple. There was lilac, plum, mauve, wine, etc. Now Bridgette knew what Melodie meant by different shades of purple.

Melodie liked all of them, but she tried to stick to ones that had racks full of dresses. If not enough people bought a certain kind, then there was a chance she didn’t copy as many people.

Melodie took a few dresses to try on. Since most girls did their shopping in the morning, the dressing rooms weren’t as crowded. Bridgette continued searching while Melodie changed into what was probably the third dress already.

She stumbled upon a short, silky, royal purple dress with a lace high neck that flowed outwards. There were only two left on the rack, one luckily in Melodie’s size. This meant that several girls already bought the same dress. She knew Melodie wouldn’t want to wear it if it meant too many girls had the same dress, but she felt that Melodie just HAD to try it on. She grabbed it off the rack and headed towards the dressing rooms.

“Mel? Try this one on.” She threw the dress over the door.

“Okay?” She replied through the door. “Oh, this is really cute.” After a minute or so, she came out with the dress on. “I think it looks really good, but can you zip me up?”

Bridgette zipped the back of the dress before taking a long look at her. She held up her hands to her face as she smiled, “You look really beautiful Mel.”

“Really?” Melodie blushed as she looked in the full-sized mirror on the wall. “I love it. Can I ask how many there were?”

Just as Bridgette was about to explain her plan, a sale’s associate passed by.

“Oh my, that looks good on you! That was one of our Top Five dresses sold today!” She said heading back to the counter.

Melodie looked at Bridgette with a look of sadness and disappointment.

“Mel, before you say or do anything, I have a plan. We can fix it up.”

Melodie doubted it, but decided to listen to her anyways.

“When you dance Ballet for several years, you end up wearing a lot of costumes, and customizing a lot of costumes. If you trust me, you’ll buy the dress, and we can change it up. I’ll even pay for half of it.”

Melodie wanted to debate and argue, but she had a point. She also remembered Bridgette buying multiple things to change her own dress.

“Okay, I trust you.” She thought why not. “But you can’t take back on paying for half,” she let out a soft laugh.

Bridgette smiled as she took all the extra dresses to put them back while Melodie changed back into her day clothes. They both put some of their money together to pay for the dress and headed to the nearest shoe store. They were also having a sale of 40% off. Melodie found a nice pair of round, purple pumps. It was almost a perfect match to her dress.

After purchasing, Bridgette dragged her to an all-purpose store. She power walked through the aisles as Melodie tried to keep up. They ended up in the paint section as Bridgette searched high and low for what she was looking for. She picked up three different shades of purple fabric dyes.

Melodie was super confused thinking that her dress was already very purple. As she was lost in thought, Bridgette grabbed her arm and dragged her to the arts and crafts section and picked up a few bags of gold rhinestones and more super glue.

She grabbed Melodie’s arm again and dragged her to the checkout section. Melodie wondered if this was how Bridgette felt when she dragged her places. She giggled in her head at the thought that best friends act and think alike.

After buying the dyes, Bridgette looked to Melodie, “Can you call your parents for you to spend the night over?”

“Sure, I don’t mind. But can I ask why?”

“We have a lot to do tonight,” she smirked. Melodie giggled and called her parents as they headed back to Bridgette’s home.

*****

That evening, Felix was having a rare dinner with his father. It was mostly quiet after he was finished being asked questions about school and the like.

Felix didn’t really want to attend the Halloween Masquerade Ball at school, but something in him wanted to ask his father’s permission anyways. Was it curiosity?

“Father?” _What do I really have to lose here anyways?_

“Yes?” his father replied.

“About next Saturday –”

“Oh, yes, of course! Thank you for reminding me. I am holding a Special Fashion show themed after this upcoming holiday. During this week, you will be fitted for a new tux for the event. Francis will drive you to the building to check out the process each day as well. I will need you to look more presentable than you usually do for our friends and guests. Understood?”

“…Yes father.” Felix decided not to say anymore. His only comfort at that moment was Plagg’s body wrapped around his legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please look forward to my next chapter as our heroes have the ball of the year! I promise to try to not take as long!


	17. Chapter 16.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As happy as Claude always is, even he has his own problems.  
> "I wonder what she’ll say?"  
> A Claude Special!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the wait!! I swear I haven’t lost interest in this!! I thought I would have time, but my Summer Courses are taking up a LOT of my time :( For now, I’ll leave this here because I’m still working on the next main Chapter :) (Sorry if there's any mistakes, it's 2am and I couldn't wait to post it!)

It was nearing the end of practice. Most of the girls in the club had to run laps because instead of focusing and practicing, they were too busy standing around and chatting about the dance next weekend.

The sun was setting as Claude wiped away the sweat on his forehead. He tugged on his collar to let air flow through for his chest to breath. He didn’t miss the way some of the other girls stared at him, whispering to each other. It wasn’t new to him. He’s gotten a few of his own love confessions since school started. Felix wasn’t the only one who had a way with the ladies.

He walked over to the side of the tennis court to grab his water bottle. As he took large gulps, one of the other female members started walking over to him. He already knew what she wanted to ask him.

“Hey Claude,” the girl smiled. _Don’t ask._ “I was wondering,” she started to blush. _Don’t. Please don’t._ “Will you be my date to the dance?” _And there it goes._

“I’m sorry, I was already planning on asking someone else,” he smiled apologetically.

The girl’s face fell, but she tried to not show her disappointment too much. “O-oh, okay. I’m sorry for bothering you,” she finished before running back to her friends. He looked in the other direction to not embarrass her.

“Quite the heart breaker, aren’t ya?” Nate, the captain of the tennis team walked up to him.

Claude didn’t say anything but instead took another sip from his bottle.

“Listen, don’t feel too bad. It’s not like you have to accept every girl’s feelings. So, who’s the lucky lady that you’re gonna ask?”

Claude felt his face heat up. “J-just this friend of mine.”

“And does this friend have a name?” He smirked.

“I-I’m not saying,” he stuttered.

Nate let out a light chuckle, “I’ll find out next Saturday, won’t I? Well, that’s IF she says yes,” he teased.

Claude face grew redder. His heart sank a little. It’s not like he hasn’t already thought about the possibility of being rejected. Sure, he shows he has a lot of confidence in public, but he has his own faults too like everyone else.

This was different. He was going to ask the girl he’s been crushing on for the past year to the dance. One, things could go well for him. If she says yes, maybe it’ll be an open door to the possibility of them dating. They could go on dates over the weekend when neither of them had practice. They could buy matching phone cases to show off to everyone. Maybe she’ll even end up being his high school sweetheart.

Or, she could say no and their friendship will never be the same.

He let out a deep sigh as practice finished up and everyone headed back to the locker rooms. He grabbed his towel from his bag and wiped off more sweat from his face. He grabbed both his school and gym bag and was on his way home.

As he exited through the main front doors, he saw some of the other female teammates walking home in a group. One of them was crying. It was the girl he had just turned down. This was why he didn’t want her asking in the first place. He hated making people upset.

Along the way back to his house, he picked up some wild flowers that were around. He started plucking away at the petals, “Ask her. Don’t ask her. Ask her. Don’t ask her.” He plucked the last petal, “Ask her!” His heart started beating a little faster. He was too nervous so he started plucking at another flower in his hands. “She’ll say yes. She’ll say no.” He plucked the last petal, “She’ll say yes!” He felt his face heat up all over again.

“Should I text her?” He said out loud to himself. “No, that’s not romantic. I’ll ask her on Monday.” He clenched his fist, feeling the determination to ask out his crush.

*****

It was Monday morning. Claude felt he barely slept. He was too nervous for Monday to come. He ended up waking up super early. He had a plan and it involved him getting to school before she did. He started getting for school. He threw on some jeans and his favorite lucky, blue-striped V-neck. He combed his hair into its usual shape, grabbed both his bags, and was on his way out.

His heart felt like it was going to explode. As he walked to the front entrance of the school, he made his way towards the boys’ locker room first to drop off his gym bag. Then he went to just outside the gymnasium to wait for his girl.

Several minutes passed. Time felt like it was going to slow for him.

“Hey Claude, you looking for someone?”

Claude looked in the direction to where the voice came from. It was Nate’s girlfriend. “Oh, hey Veronica. Yeah, I’m just waiting on someone.” He felt his face heat up al little.

Veronica took a good look on him and already knew where his reaction was coming from. She let out a light giggle, “Good luck.” She gave him a pat on his shoulder and headed towards the girls’ locker room.

Claude tried fanning his face to try and calm down. It was barely helping. Then, he heard a few giggles coming from around the corner. He already knew who they were coming from. _Here we go. Time to put this plan into motion._

“Claude!” Bridgette’s face lit up as the girls spotted him.

“Good morning Bridge. Good morning Melodie.” He greeted. _Okay, stay cool._

*****

The girls greeted him back. They chatted for a minute or so until Bridgette asked, “So why are you here? Only the dance team has practice here.”

“Uh, well,” he reached his arm to the back of his neck, “before I go meet up with Felix, I needed to ask you something real quick Bridge.”

“M-me?” Bridgette felt her face flush for a second. She looked at Melodie before looking back at him. “What is it?”

Claude took a quick glance at Melodie before looking back at her. “I was wondering if I could talk to you privately real quick?”

Bridgette’s face fell a little. She didn’t have to look at her best friend to know what she must be feeling. She needed to get her away quickly. “I’m sorry Melodie, I’ll meet you inside, okay?” _Please trust me._

“O-okay.” She said a little too quietly before heading inside the gym a little too quickly.

“Uh, I-” he started before getting cut off by the dance teacher.

“Hurry inside Bridgette,” Ms. Leroux started. “You’ll be late. You can talk to your friend later.” She disappeared into the gym.

“Sorry Bridgette, I’ll talk to you later. Can you meet me by the library during lunch? Alone?”

“O-okay,” she barely managed to stutter out before he started walking away towards the direction of the library. Bridgette froze. _Oh my god._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved typing this out ♥ Maybe I’ll do another Claude Special, idk yet lol


	18. Chapter 16.5 Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let’s take a look at how Felix spent his weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to cut this out of the main chapter because I felt it should be its own small one. I finally have extra time this week to continue typing :) So please stay updated!

There was a knock at his door. Felix slowly opened his eyes feeling exhausted from lack of sleep. “Yes?” He grunted.

The person began speaking on the other side of the door. “Felix, it’s Nathalie. Please wake up and get ready for brunch with your father at 11. Dress appropriately.” He could hear her heels walking away after that.

Felix let out a low groan as he plopped his head back onto his pillow. _What time is it?_ He felt too tired for it to be around brunch time. Sundays were usually his only days he could sleep in a little. He turned his head to face his clock on his nightstand. It was 9:27 am. He let out another groan, this time a bit louder as he tried to rub his eyes to help him wake up.

He felt Plagg shift on the pillow next to his. He opened his eyes and raised his head to look at his owner.

Felix took notice of him, “Oh, did I wake you your highness?” He let out a soft chuckle as he reached a hand over to rub the side of the feline’s stomach. Plagg then crawled a little forward, reached out a paw, and tapped Felix’s mouth. “Oh, am I too noisy for you?” Plagg tapped at his mouth again before returning to his pillow, only this time turning his body around to face the opposite direction.

He took that as his cue to get out of bed. He walked towards his windows. The sun wasn’t as bright this morning with all the clouds surrounding it. There were maybe only one or two birds in the sky. He looked to the streets and saw very few people walking along the sidewalks.

Felix walked into his bathroom. He walked up to the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror above it. Every morning, he woke up with his hair looking wild. His bangs weren’t combed to the side, and his sides were going in different directions, downwards and sideways, towards his face and back. His hair wasn’t that long, but he had enough for it to have a mind of its own. Something about it felt…right. If he could leave it like this always, he would. He let out a sigh and then proceeded to take a shower.

 

There was an awkward silence inside the limo between him and his father. That is, until his father spoke up, “We will be having brunch with Mr. Duet and his daughter. I thought you should know before we arrive. Make sure to leave a good impression, and before we leave, make sure to give Ms. Duet a proper ‘goodbye.’”

Felix stayed silent for a moment. Of course, it was unusual for his father to make plans with him out of nowhere. “Yes father,” was all he could say.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Mr. Duet and Ms. Alice were already there. Felix didn’t miss the several paparazzi men that had followed them.

“Ah, Gabriel! Welcome!” Mr. Duet stood to shake both Mr. Agreste’s and Felix’s hands.

“Good to see you again Mathew,” Mr. Agreste greeted back. “You as well Ms. Duet.”

Felix wasn’t in the mood, but he had no choice. He reached a hand out to Alice to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you again Alice.” She was wearing a white blouse and a blue skirt with blue flats. Her hair was braided into a low bun, leaving her face clear enough that Felix didn’t miss the way she blushed.

“N-nice to see – I m-mean, meet you again.” She shook his hand and sat back down quickly. Her father let out a hearty chuckle at his daughter.

 

As time passed, “I do hope you are able to attend this Saturday Mathew.”

“Of course! I am curious to see what you have planned this year Gabriel.”

As both men chattered away, Felix knew he had to make conversation as well. Even if he wasn’t interested. “So how have you been Alice?” He directed his attention towards the girl next him. Lucky for him, the table was circular so there was still some distance.

Alice jumped a little in her seat, surprised by his sudden question. “I’m f-fine. Thank you for asking. H-how are you Felix?”

“I’m fine as well, thank you.” _Now what?_ “Will you be coming to my father’s Fashion Show this Saturday as well?”

Her face lit up, “Yes! I am so excited! I am a huge fan of your father’s work. Is it really themed after Halloween?”

“Yes. My father likes to use the holidays to help inspire him. We should be expecting one for Christmas too.”

She let out a giggle. “Can I have any hints on what we’ll be seeing this weekend?”

“I’m sorry, but my father would probably say that it’s _Top Secret_.”

She continued laughing and tried to keep the conversation going. “So, do public schools do anything for the holidays?”

Felix felt his own body tense up a little but tried to play it off. “I wouldn’t know,” he lied. “I don’t bother to get involved with school activities. My schedule after school keeps me plenty busy.”

As more time passed, the whole table were conversing with one another. Until Mr. Agreste finally said, “This was pleasant, but I feel that I should be getting back to my company. There’s still much work to be done.”

“Of course! I look forward to it!” Both men stood for a final hand shake. Felix looked to his father and saw his nod towards him. It was small and unnoticeable to others, but Felix could already tell what he wanted him to do.

Felix stood. Alice stood up after him following everyone else at the table. He held out a hand to her for a final handshake as well. She held out her hand to return the gesture. With her hand in his, “We hope to see you next weekend as well Ms. Alice,” he said before bending a little over, raising her hand to his face. He pressed his lips lightly to the back of her hand before letting it go.

Alice’s face went red as she managed to stutter out, “Y-yes, of c-course!” She squeaked a little too loudly.

 

Mr. Agreste and Felix were back inside the limo on their way to his company’s building. Felix was already told by his father and Nathalie that his schedule was changed around drastically for the week. Every day after school, he was to go straight to his father’s building. Today, he was to go along with his father to be fitted for a new suit.

Once they arrived at the building, his father escorted him to a room where he will be getting measured. Before leaving him, his father spoke a few more words to him. “You did well this morning. Do keep it up.”

Before Felix could say anything, his father had already left the room. What was there to say anyways? He let out a heavy sigh. One of tailors walked up to him and notified that she would be measuring him. He then let his body be moved around by her, following every instruction given to him. He looked around the room. Was it him, or did it feel like the walls were closing in?


	19. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions are being tossed all around, and it’s only the beginning of the week!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only a coincidence that today is Monday lol

There was music playing, the lights in the room were dim. There was a spotlight in the middle of the room. Bridgette found herself walking to the center of it. She looked around, trying to recognize faces, but everyone was too busy dancing with their own partners. She looked around the room some more to find someone to dance with. No luck.

“Would you care to dance with me?”

Bridgette whipped her head around to the mystery voice. As much as she tried, she couldn’t see his face clearly. All she could make out of her vision was a black suit, a black mask, and a gentle smile.

“Who are you?” She asked the mystery man. He didn’t respond. He only held out a hand, implying he wanted to dance with her.

She was a little skeptical, but something about his voice felt soothing. She held out her hand and reached for his. Just as she was about to grab it…

_*beep beep beep*_ Bridgette’s eyes shot wide open at her alarm clock going off.

There was a loud groan beside her. “Mmm, Briii. Turn it off!” Melodie complained as she dug her head under her pillow.

Bridgette reached her arm over to turn off her alarm. She let out a grunt as her head landed back onto her pillow. Mondays were never a favorite.

Melodie ended up spending the whole weekend at her place. Fixing up the dresses took a little longer than expected. Now they were hanging up somewhere high in her room where Tikki couldn’t reach.

“Come on Mel. We gotta get ready,” Bridgette said trying to rub the sand from her eyes.

“Mm, five more minutes,” Melodie moaned.

Bridgette let out a sigh and granted her wish. She got out of bed to use the restroom and wash her face. Tikki walked up to her feet and stared up at her owner. Bridgette bent down to pet her head before whispering, _“If you can wake up Mel, there’s cat nip for you.”_

Tikki let out a small meow and ran towards Bridgette’s bed. She hopped onto the bed and started licking Melodie’s face like crazy.

“Oh my gosh, Tikki! I don’t know where that tongue’s been!” Melodie picked up the white cat and held her away from her face. She glared at Bridgette, “You did this, didn’t you?”

“Well good morning to you too sunshine,” Bridgette giggled.

Melodie finally got up to get ready. As she was getting dressed, she looked up at the wall where the dresses were hanging. She let out a soft sigh, “I can’t wait for Saturday.”

As Bridgette was tying her last shoe, she looked up as well. “They turned out nice huh?”

“Yes! I’m so excited!” They finished up getting ready, grabbed their lunches Bridgette’s mother made them, plus a few extra pastries for breakfast, and were on their way.

*****

Over the weekend, they talked about the usual. School, classmates, boys, well Melodie mainly talked about one boy in particular. The most Melodie could squeeze out of Bridgette was maybe thinking she thought some guy on the soccer team was cute, and a guy from a different class. No names and no one specific.

Melodie felt like Bridgette’s good looks were going to waste. She offered to help set her friend up, but she politely declined. Bridgette told her she’d rather just let fate run its course. What’s meant to be will happen at some point in her life.

Bridgette also admitted to her that she’s currently afraid to fall for anyone for the time being because of whoever is blackmailing her. She’s scared of her love life being ruined before it even starts. Melodie understood where she was coming from, but she just wanted her friend to be happy.

As they reached the school, there were many girls crowding the front of the building.

“Well it looks like I won the bet!” Melodie threw her arm around her friend, smiling like she just won the lottery.

“You don’t know that yet! They could be waiting for someone else or maybe they just ended up never going inside!”

“Please, we both know they’re all waiting for Felix. But I am surprised, I heard he had already started rejecting girls before the weekend even started, and during the weekend as well.”

“Oh yeah, Rose texted us saying some girls even had the guts to show up to his house. She’s such a little gossip,” Bridgette giggled. “But very informative.”

“Alright, let’s settle this bet and ask them what they’re doing,” Melodie smirked.

“I’m game,” she smiled back. Melodie took her arm from around her shoulders and led the way to the group of girls.

Melodie approached one girl that was by herself, “Hey, can I ask what everyone is waiting for?”

“Huh? Oh, well I’m waiting on Felix to get here so I can ask him to the dance before everyone else here.”

Another girl overheard, “Excuse you?! I’m asking Felix to be MY date first!” This declaration shifted into a wave of the other girls proclaiming how they’ll be the ones to ask out Felix.

“Uh-oh,” Melodie started, “this isn’t good. I don’t feel like dealing with this again, let’s go inside before we get caught up in this mess. Again.”

“Uh, okay.” Bridgette followed her inside.

Melodie felt a little bad because she felt like she started it, but she was only asking! She was looking down at her feet as they walked, when all of a sudden –

“Claude!” Bridgette called out.

Melodie looked up. She felt her face flush a little.

Claude had on his usual friendly smile. She thought it was adorable.

“Good morning Bridge. Good morning Melodie,” he greeted.

Both of them greeted him back and made some small talk. Melodie felt her hands starting to sweat a little.

“So why are you here? Only the dance team has practice here,” Bridgette asked.

“Uh, well,” it looked like he was starting to get nervous, “before I go meet up with Felix, I needed to ask you something real quick Bridge.”

Melodie felt her chest tighten.

“M-me?” Bridgette stuttered. Melodie could feel her eyes on her but she couldn’t look away from him. Bridgette continued, “What is it?”

Melodie noticed Claude’s quick glance at her before looking back at her friend. He started, “I was wondering if I could talk to you in private?”

She felt a lump in her throat and her chest tighten even more. It was obvious what he wanted to ask her.

“I’m sorry Melodie, I’ll meet you inside, okay?” Bridgette said.

 _Say something!_ She told herself. “O-okay,” was all she could barely say before walking into the gym. As she reached inside she headed straight to the side of the wall to sit. She just sat there and stared at her feet until someone walked up to her.

“Good morning Melodie.” It was Rose. Melodie was still in a little bit of shock to look up at her. “Are you okay?” She asked as she bent down to her level.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Kind of.”

Rose looked like she wanted to ask more until the teacher walked in.

“Alright, I hope everyone has been doing their stretches!”

“W-well I guess we should go? Come on,” Rose said standing back up. She held out a hand to her to help her up.

Melodie took her hand and tried to stand up, but with Rose’s weight and small height, she nearly fell over until someone came up next to them to stop her from falling.

“Oh, thanks Bridgette!” Rose giggled.

“You gotta be careful!” She warned. “You go ahead, I got her.”

“Oh, okay.” Rose said before running back to the other girls.

Melodie couldn’t find the right words. She was afraid of her scared feelings that she might end up saying the wrong thing.

“We got interrupted by Ms. Leroux, so he said he’ll talk to me during lunch. If he’s going to ask me to be his date, I have already decided to turn him down.”

Melodie felt her chest tighten all over again hearing it out loud. “But what if him asking you in general means that he like likes you?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. Maybe it’s that, or maybe he’s just asking as friends. Kim, Max, and Alix are all going as friends. I’ll tell you everything that he tells me.”

“You promise?”

Bridgette let out a little giggle, “I promise.”

“Ladies!” Ms. Leroux shouted. “Are you joining us?”

Both girls looked in her direction and realized she was talking to them. They both started running towards the center of the gym to join the rest of the group.

*****

“No. No. No thank you. No! For the last time, NO!” Felix was trying to push through the wave of girls, all asking him the same question. They kept trying to grab his hands, his sleeves, his arms, and his sides. One girl even dared to grab his tie! “Hey! Alright, ENOUGH!!!” He finally snapped and shouted at the top of his lungs.

All the girls around him froze. Some took a step back, and some froze, too shocked by his harsh tone.

“I am not attending the dance! I will not be your date! Quit asking! And the next person who touches me, I will not hesitate to report you! UNDERSTOOD!?”

Felix looked around at all the scared faces. He almost felt guilty at the way he yelled at them. Almost. All the girls started walking away to either around the building, or inside through the front door. Some ran away, and there were a few that started crying. _Maybe I should’ve expected something like this was going to happen. I should’ve went through another entrance. I should’ve worn a wig and gone in incognito!_

He let out a deep sigh, reshaped his clothes, combed back his hair with his fingers, and proceeded inside the building. Walking through the building, he was on the receiving end of several stares and glares, gender not specified. He power walked to the nearest boy’s restroom to get away from the stares. He walked over to the sink and patted a little water over his eyes. He had enough stress outside of school as it is. He didn’t know whether to walk back out there or to just stay in here until class started. He heard some footsteps approaching the door so he quickly ducked into one of the stalls and locked it.

 _Why did I hide?_ He wondered to himself. _Ugh, whatever. I’ll just stay in here._

*****

The morning bells started ringing, Bridgette and Melodie were sitting at their table pulling out their pencils, notebooks, and the likes.

About most of the class were already in the room except for a few. Claude walked into the room. On his way to his seat, he gave a little awkward wave to Bridgette and Melodie. Bridgette awkwardly waved back while Melodie acted like she didn’t see him. The room wasn’t as noisy until Kim walked in.

“Hey! Did you guys hear?”

“What you dork?” Replied Alix.

Kim glared at her for half a sec before continuing, “Words going around that Felix threatened a girl. More than one actually!”

The whole class gasped.

Mylene spoke up, “I don’t know about threatened, but I heard he made several girls cry.”

Kim looked to Claude, “Have you talked to him yet?”

Claude stood silent for a moment, still in a little bit of shock. “Uh, no. I actually haven’t seen him yet today. I guess he can be a little frightening, but that doesn’t sound like him.”

Bridgette felt a little touched by Claude’s small defense of his friend. Speak of the devil, the man in question walked in. Everyone in the classroom became silent and directed their attention to him.

Felix looked up at everyone and stopped walking, “What?”

Kim was the closest to him in the room. “Dude, you okay? Some weird things are being said about you.”

Felix let out a deep sigh, “Just ignore them.” He continued to his seat next to Claude.

Bridgette wasn’t close enough to listen to what they were talking about. She assumed Claude was already asking him questions. She was concerned as well since Felix looked more irritated than usual. As she was looking at the boys’ table, Felix looked up and his eyes met hers. She whipped her head back to her notebook in front of her. She felt her face heating up a little. Thank goodness for the teacher walking in.

*****

Lunch time came around, Melodie felt like her stomach was in a knot. She didn’t have much of an appetite. No matter how good Bridgette’s mother’s cooking was.

Bridgette leaned into her and whispered, _“Will you be okay? Why don’t you sit with the other girls during lunch.”_

“Okay,” Melodie said softly. Bridgette got up and headed out the door. Towards the library she assumed. She looked around the room and noticed Claude was already gone. She felt her chest tighten all over again. Then she noticed Felix was still at his table, writing in his notebook. She remembered what Kim was talking about in the morning. Curiosity hit her.

Melodie stood up and walked over to him. “Hey, you’re not gonna go eat or something?”

Felix stopped writing and looked up at her. “I don’t have much of an appetite. Also, it’s probably best I stay out of the public’s eye for now.”

“Does it have to do with what happened this morning? Which was what exactly? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Felix didn’t say anything. He just grimaced at his hands.

“I won’t judge,” she said. Melodie took another chair and sat in front of him. She didn’t rush him. She just sat there and stared at him until he felt ready to speak.

Felix let out a soft sigh and finally gave in. “I was sort of ambushed this morning. I showed up to school and all these girls started coming at me from all sides.”

“Wait, you ride to school, right? Didn’t you see them before you got out the car?”

“No. My mind was somewhere else, and I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. Anyways, I couldn’t even take a step anywhere. I was trapped and couldn’t get away. All of them were asking me out, asking me to the dance, asking me to be there date. They pulled on my clothes and my limbs. And then this one girl pulled on my tie, choking me a little, and I just sort of…snapped.”

Melodie looked closely at his face. It was a face of both regret and anger. “Snapped? As in the rumors that you threatened them?” She noticed him tense up a little when she said that.

“Sort of. I told them I would report the next person who touches me. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“I don’t blame you. I probably would’ve said the same thing too. They were basically harassing you. Are you going to tell one of the adults?”

He took a moment to answer. “No. I know the dance is this weekend and I don’t want to prevent someone from going because of me.”

“Well aren’t you sweet,” she giggled. “The Felix from the first day of school wouldn’t hesitate to get someone in detention or suspended.”

“What? I’m not that cruel!”

“Haha, I know that now. You’re like a cat. You act all tough, but sometimes you act like a softy. Oh yeah, do you have any pictures of your cat?”

Felix had a confused look on his face, “How did you – wait, let me guess, Bridgette?”

She couldn’t help but laugh again. “Yeah she told me. How you were so nice to help her look for Tikki,” she smirked. Melodie felt the need to tease him to help distract her. Just as she was about to remember, “So, got any pictures on your fancy little phone?”

Felix cheeks started to turn a little pink but he pulled out his phone anyways. He opened up his photo album and handed it to her. She scrolled through the pictures, “Oh my gosh, he’s adorable! Wait, do you only have pictures of your cat on here?”

“I don’t really use it for anything else.”

“But don’t you hang out with celebrities and go to fancy parties? There’s no pictures of that.”

“I don’t really care for all that.”

“Because you’re used to it?”

“Probably.”

“Is he eating camembert?”

“Yeah, it’s his favorite.”

“That’s weird,” she chuckled. “Here you go. Want to see pics of Tikki,” she smirked again, waving her phone in the air.

Felix hesitated before looking to the side, pouting a little, “No.”

He’s become so easy to read. He must really like cats or something. She unlocked her phone and went to a specific photo album that was only of Tikki. “Here ya go.”

“I said I didn’t – ugh, fine. Whatever.” He took the phone and scrolled through the pictures.

Melodie decided to keep talking to fill the silence. She kept teasing him about the night he acted as Bridgette’s knight in shining armor, and he kept wanting to throw his notebook at her.

“Wait,” Felix started. “I just noticed you’re not with Bridgette.”

 _Damn._ “O-oh, she had to be somewhere,” she said looking away. “You’re not with Claude either.” Like she even had to ask.

“He just said he had to be somewhere and said he’ll tell me later. Or something in that area.”

“You don’t know where?”

“No, why? Do you?”

She looked away again. “Yeah. He had to talk to Bridgette about something.” She stared out the window, looking at nothing in particular.

“Oh, I see.” Felix handed back her phone and continued writing in his notebook. She assumed he was getting ahead of the homework or something. She just continued staring out the window. Neither of them said anything more.

*****

“S-so what did you want to talk to me about?” Bridgette was fidgeting with her phone in her hand. Her and Claude were sitting at one of the tables in the library.

“Oh! Looky here!” Both of them looked up. It was Lila. “It’s rare to see just the two of you two together.”

“Can we help you Lila?” Bridgette tried to keep calm. She always felt nervous being around her.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to stop by to say how cute you two look.” She smirked and walked away.

Bridgette felt her face flush. She let out a sigh and breathed in deeply. “A-anyways, you were saying?”

“Well I hadn’t started but okay,” he chuckled. “Um, okay. How long have we known each other again?”

“Uh, well you transferred in the middle of last year during our previous school. So, about a year?”

“Right. You know, you were one of my first friends?”

“Really? I didn’t know.”

“Haha, you were. You and Kim. But um, would you say I’m an okay guy?”

 _Oh god, this is like a trick question._ “Yes, you’re one of the nicest people I know. Why?” _Is my heart beating faster?_

“I see you as a close friend, and I value your opinion a lot.”

“Is this something you couldn’t talk to Felix about. I thought you two were very close?”

“Well I’d like to think we are? I mean, he’s a cool guy, but there are just some things that he probably wouldn’t understand. Like this.”

“Like what exactly?” _Please don’t let it be what I think it’s going to be._

“W-well, like…man is it hot in here?” He kept fidgeting with his fingers and her heart felt like it was beating faster. “D-do you think…if I asked…”

_Asked?_

“DoyouthinkifIaskedMelodietothedanceshewouldsayyes?”

Bridgette’s mind went blank. “Uh…what?”

Claude kept looking down at his fingers, “D-do you think if I asked M-Melodie to the dance, she would say yes?”

 _Melodie?_ “MELODIE!?” Bridgette shouted as she jumped out of her seat.

“Shh!” Claude tried to shush her. “ _Not so loud!”_

Bridgette slapped both hands across her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

Claude began blushing, “It’s not funny Bridge.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m just, happy? In a way. Wait, you said you wanted my opinion. Are you asking for my permission to ask her out?”

He pouted a little, “…Yes.”

Bridgette began laughing all over again. He was like an adorable puppy. “Aww, I’m touched.”

“I just figured to ask you first since you’re her best friend.”

“That’s sweet. For how long have you liked her?”

“W-well,” he was blushing all over again. “We didn’t have a class together until this year.”

“Oh, since the beginning of the school year?”

“Actually, during Summer when all the extracurricular teams had to come to school for Summer camp. You sort of introduced us at the time.”

“Ohh, that’s true. When were you going to ask her?”

“After school, before I go to practice. I just wanted your opinion first, like if I should or not.”

“I think you should.”

“Really?”

She let out a small chuckle, “Yes. I’ll even help you.”

“Oh my god, thanks Bridge!”

The two of them continued talking during the rest of the lunch period planning how to get him and Melodie alone together after school. Bridgette promised him she’ll keep it a secret. She felt a little bad because she also promised Melodie she would tell her everything, but this also involved Claude’s feelings. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to fib a little for a few more hours.

*****

The two of them walked back to the classroom. They were feeling giddy about their plan. They ran into Rose in the hallway. She looked a little upset.

“Hey Rose,” Claude called out. “You okay?”

Rose noticed the both of them. “No,” she sighed, “Juleka and I got into a little argument.”

Bridgette was surprised. She’s never heard of them fighting. “What happened?”

“I don’t know. She got frustrated with me out of nowhere. It’ll probably pass soon anyways, don’t worry about it,” she smiled softly. Her face then went into a small surprise, “Wait, are you two – ?”

Both Bridgette and Claude started waving their hands and shaking their heads, “N-no, we’re not anything. Just friends Rose,” Bridgette said in defense.

“Oh okay,” she giggled. The three of them went into the classroom. Bridgette headed straight to her seat while Claude went to his. She didn’t miss the way Melodie’s eyes followed her. Bridgette smiled at her and tore out a page out of her notebook, quietly so Claude couldn’t hear. She scribbled out a couple of words and slid it discreetly to her.

Melodie took it and read,

_He didn’t ask me. He just needed my help with something else. Nothing about the dance :)_

Melodie looked up at her. Bridgette just had her head resting on her hand as she smiled at her friend. Melodie looked like she wanted to hug her until the teacher walked in.

*****

_Back to a moment ago._

Felix was just scribbling down random things into his notebook until he heard a familiar laugh coming from outside the door. He looked up and saw Claude and Bridgette walking into the classroom together. Well, with Rose too. _Was that where he was?_ He thought to himself.

 His eyes followed Claude as he sat down next to him. He had on a smile that he’s never seen before.

Claude turned to Felix and noticed he was staring at him. “W-what?”

Felix stayed silent for a moment. “…Nothing.” He returned his attention back to his notebook.

“Okay?” He chuckled. “Oh, you’re busy after school, right Felix?”

“Yes.” _I hope after school never comes._ He thought back to his schedule.

“Right, silly me for asking,” he let out an awkward chuckle. “Um, you don’t suppose I can call you at some point later this evening?”

Felix looked up at him, “May I ask why?”

“Uh, remember that ‘thing’ I wanted to talk to you about? Well since I didn’t see you in the morning, and we don’t have much time left until the teacher walks in…”

“It can’t wait until tomorrow?” He felt a little annoyed.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Felix wanted to say no. Well he was busy, that wasn’t a lie. But he guessed if it’s important that Claude needed to ask to call him, he felt he had no choice but to listen. “Alright, I’ll send you a text on when you can call. Is that alright?”

“Thank you.” Claude looked like he wanted to hug him until the teacher walked in.

*****

As soon as the after-school bell rang, Bridgette turned to Melodie and said in a low voice, “Hey can you help me with something before we go home?”

“With what?”

“I’ll tell you later. Just come with me?”

“Uh okay? Sure.”

Both girls packed up their stuff and were on their way. Bridgette led the way through the hallways towards outside. They went to the side of the building where there weren’t many people.

“Uh, mind telling me what we’re doing now?”

“Oh no, I forgot something I needed in my locker! Wait here until I get back okay?” And with that, she ran back inside.

“Bri!” Melodie yelled out. “Ugh, she can be so weird sometimes.”

“Um, Melodie?”

Melodie whipped her head around to the random deep voice. When she saw who it was, “H-hey, Claude? Um, if you’re looking for Bridgette, she’ll be right back.”

“Um, actually I needed to talk to you.”

“M-me?” Melodie felt her face heat up. A lot.

*****

Bridgette couldn’t stop smiling as she headed to the girl’s restroom to give her friends some privacy. The hallways were pretty empty as people like to leave right away after school. She started humming one of her favorite songs until she bumped into something soft.

“Agh!” She screamed as her bottom landed hard on the ground.

“Oh, sorry Bridgette. Here let me help you,” said the all too familiar and deep voice.

She looked up to see Felix bending over above her and reaching a hand down to help her up. Something in her mind was telling her to run. Instead, she grabbed his hand as he helped hoist her up. She didn’t realize how strong he was and ended up grabbing his chest to keep herself from falling forward onto him.

“Sorry. Sometimes I don’t realize my own strength.” He had an apologetic look on his face.

“I-It’s fine. Um, thank you. I didn’t see you coming out of the…” she looked at the door they were in front of. “Principal’s office?” She looked back at him with a curious look.

He looked at the door. He made a little grimace. “Yes. I was just being questioned on the incident this morning. I was clearing up some misunderstandings.”

“Oh.” She was so distracted by Melodie and Claude that she nearly forgot about this morning. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sure you already heard. It’s been going around the whole school all day.”

“W-well yes, but rumors are rumors. I’m sure there was a reason for whatever happened. If you’re tired of talking about it, it’s fine. I won’t bother you.”

Felix stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “No, it’s alright. Since you’re one of my classmates, it won’t do you any good to be wondering. Do you have a minute?”

“Yeah, of course,” she replied. She felt like she should have said no, but felt like she needed to hear him out. They walked over to the windows so they wouldn’t be blocking the Principal’s door. “So, what did happen this morning?”

*****

He took a deep breath and looked out the window. _I already lost count how many times I’ve talked about this today._ “Well, when I arrived to school, I was ambushed by a mob of girls. They were pulling me at almost every angle. They all were asking me the same questions. They kept asking me to go with them to the dance.” He looked back at her to see if she was going to say something. She stayed silent, giving him her full attention. He looked back out the window as he continued, “One of them then pulled my tie, and I…I snapped.” He closed his eyes as if he was remembering.

Bridgette stayed quiet, letting him finish. “I threatened all them that if another person touched me, I was going to have them reported…” He looked back at her to see if she was going to say anything.

“That sounds like a nightmare,” she responded. “I’m sorry that happened to you Felix.”

Felix could see Bridgette’s apologetic face clearly. It was so sincere. “It’s fine. It’s over with. I haven’t been bothered the rest of the day because of it. So, one good thing came out of it.” He shrugged.

He noticed her face get a little sadder as he said this. Then she spoke, “You shouldn’t say things like that. I would feel upset if I had half the school mad at me or scared of me. That would be too lonely.”

“I’m not you,” he said a little too fast without thinking. He slapped a hand to his mouth, “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“It’s alright. I already know we’re two different people,” she said as she looked out the window. “You’re very hard to read, you know? One day you look fine, and the next day you look miserable. I don’t know what goes on in your life, but you shouldn’t have to go through it alone.” She looked back at him and gave him a genuine smile.

Their eyes locked. The sun was shining through the window on her face. _Were her eyes always this blue?_ He thought to himself. Then she shifted her eyes to below his face.

“Um, Felix,” she started.

“What is it?”

“Your neck,” she said as she reached out to touch his collar with her right hand. He froze in place as she gently pulled down his collar. She gasped as she covered her mouth with her left hand.

Felix’s eyes went wide, “What?” He shifted his body towards the window to see if he could see his reflection. He could barely see it, but it was there. There were red marks on both sides of his neck. _When? This morning?_ He assumed. Felix then felt something warm touch his neck. He looked at both their reflections in the window. Bridgette was gently tracing the marks on his neck with her fingers. He kept thinking how warm they were.

“Maybe you should put some ice on that? Or a bandage? I’m sorry, I’m not a doctor,” she said putting her hand down.

Felix glared at his reflection. Many things were going through his head. He was mad at the girl who did it. He was afraid of what his father would say. He was upset with himself he didn’t notice it earlier. He was lost in thought, not hearing the girl next to him.

“-ix! Felix!” Bridgette cried out. He snapped out of it and looked at her. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“…Yeah, I’m fine. Anyways, I should get going,” he said as he clenched his fists. Just as he was about to walk away, he noticed something outside. “Is that Claude and Melodie?”

Bridgette looked outside as well. The two of them were laughing and smiling. “She said yes,” she giggled and said in a low voice.

“To what?” He asked.

“Claude asked her to be his date to the Halloween dance.”

“He did? I guess that’s what he wanted to talk about.”

Felix could see how happy the two of them were as they walked along the grass. They looked so bright and cheery. _Is that what being in love looks like?_

“Say Felix?”

“Hm,” he hummed in response, not looking away from his friend.

“Have you ever been in love?” She asked also still looking at their friends. Her tone sounded more on the serious side.

He closed his eyes as he answered, “No, I haven’t.”

“Yeah, me neither. It must be nice,” she sighed softly.

Felix looked back at her in surprise. He thought someone like her must have already experienced it at least once by now. She was kind, smart, and –

“Oh, I have to go!” He jumped a little as she broke the silence. “I promised to meet Mel by the locker room.” She turned to him as she placed a hand on his shoulder, “Please don’t let what happened today get you down Felix. Just look on the brighter side of things. Okay?” She smiled and then jogged off down the hallway towards the front of the school.

Felix stared after her as she lightly ran away. He placed a hand on his shoulder where she had hers. He was lost in thought until his phone vibrated. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and saw he got a text from his driver. _Shoot! I nearly forgot._

As he started walking away, he placed his other hand in his other pocket. It felt weirdly empty. _Dammit._ He realized he forgot to bring Bridgette’s ribbon today to give back to her. He had been too tired this morning to remember. And this was the perfect time too.

Felix made it to his town car, finally. Luckily, no one else in school bothered him on his way there. He guessed word got around to the whole school already. He let out a sigh as his driver drove him to his father’s company. Just one week, he kept thinking to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Worry not, the dance is nearing.


	20. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been quite the week with all the ups and downs. The downs, the whole city now knows what Felix did. The ups, Bridgette and Melodie can finally wear their new dresses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter finally! Many apologies for the LONG wait!  
> (I'm sorry if there are mistakes)

It was Tuesday morning. The sky was cloudier than usual. Within a few moments of waking up, Felix noticed it started to rain outside. He looked around to find his fury pet hidden under the covers. He knew how much Plagg disliked the rain, or any type of water as a matter of fact.

As he stood up, he felt a hint of soreness around his neck. He walked into his bathroom to look in the mirror. The marks around his neck weren’t as bright or red anymore. They were now an unsightly, dark brown against his pale-like skin. It’s a good thing most of his wardrobe were filled with collared shirts anyways. He managed to hide it from others yesterday and last night. As well, he was lucky his father didn’t join him for dinner. Not that that was anything new.

Felix finished getting ready and headed downstairs. Nathalie handed him his schedule for the day. He sat down and took his time eating breakfast. He felt no rush to get to school this morning. If it was up to him, he would stay home. Alone. As he thought this, Bridgette’s words played in his head, _“You shouldn’t have to go through it alone.”_

Was he really not alone? According to Claude, it will be over his dead body if he ever decided to leave him alone. Felix didn’t notice he was lightly chuckling to himself.

“You seem to be in a good mood this morning.” Felix whipped his head around to find his father walking into the room. “I suppose you already saw the news?”

Felix furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “What news?”

“Oh, you haven’t? Nathalie, please bring me the newspapers.”

“Yes sir,” Nathalie replied walking over to him. She handed him a handful size of newspapers.

“Look for yourself,” his father said handing Felix the stack.

Felix grabbed them one by one. All the front covers had the same picture, some from a different angle. It was of him leaving a kiss on Alice’s hand from Sunday. The headlines were big and in bold, asking if he was dating the daughter of the famous Duet family.

Felix knew this was his father’s plan all along. To get publicity. He had a strong urge to rip apart everything in front of him. Of course, he couldn’t in front of his father. So, he tried to play it calmly, “Oh, is that all?” He said nonchalantly, placing them back down away from him.

His father didn’t notice his inner rage, or maybe he chose to ignore it as long as things were going his way. He went on with his day and began heading towards his company’s building. Nathalie followed him, leaving Felix alone with his thoughts. He lost his appetite, grabbed his umbrella, and just went straight to school.

 

As his driver pulled up to the front of the school, Felix looked outside before stepping out. There was no one outside, although that was probably the rain’s fault. He had hoped no one reads the newspapers anymore.

He went about his way to the library to meet up with Claude. Even though he had already called him last night to hear about all the good things that happened to him yesterday, he was sure that there was more Claude wanted to talk to him about. At least one of them was happy.

As Felix walked towards the library, he saw many of the students on their phone look up at him. Several of them stared while others went about their business. He felt his back shiver a little. Once he reached the library, he saw that there was almost no one in there. It was emptier than usual other than maybe one or two other students. He managed to find Claude towards the back at their usual table. He felt a hint of relief.

Felix sat down in his usual seat in front of Claude. “Good morning,” he greeted.

“Morning,” Claude greeted back. “Sooo, wanna explain this to me?” Claude pulled up a webpage on his phone and handed it to Felix.

 _Crap._ He forgot you can check the news online nowadays. “It’s nothing,” he replied calmly, handing Claude back his phone.

Claude let out a light chuckle, “Not according to everyone else in the city. Apparently, you’re quite the charmer,” he smirked.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“So, you just go around kissing every pretty girl’s hand?”

Felix felt his body tense up. “She’s just the daughter of an acquaintance of my father. That’s all.”

“Yeah, I can see that. I remember, you’re not the romance type. Was it just for show?” Claude asked curiously.

“Something like that,” he admitted. He saw no point in lying to him.

“Your father’s idea?”

“Yes, but I’m the one who chose to follow it.”

Claude didn’t miss his grimace. “Mm. Well at first I thought this was why you were rejecting all those girls, but I figured you would’ve mentioned this girl at least once to me.”

“She’s not important. Now, can we talk about something else?”

Claude couldn’t help but laugh. “Haha, sure. Alright, enough about your ‘love life,’” he said, gesturing air quotes with his fingers, “let me continue about mine,” he grinned.

Felix couldn’t help but give a little chuckle. “What haven’t you told me already that you didn’t tell me last night?”

Claude went on cheerfully talking about Melodie, what he liked about her, and how the both of them stayed up late texting each other last night. Felix didn’t bother to stop him as he was on a roll. Hearing how happy his friend was, distracted him from his own problems.

 

On their way to class, Felix noticed he was still getting stares, glares, and many sad looks. A lot of people were on their phones. More than likely they were all looking at the same thing. _Great, more people know._ One girl was holding her phone and crying to her friend. _Why are you crying? I don’t even know who you are! I’m the one who should be upset!_ He was starting to feel annoyed.

“Mr. Heart-Breaker back at it again,” Claude teased.

They entered the classroom to almost everyone looking at either a newspaper or their phones.

“Hey Felix!” Kim shouted. “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend!” He laughed out loud.

“I can’t believe you used the words Felix and girlfriend in the same sentence,” Melodie teased. “There’s no way the _Ice Prince_ has a girlfriend, no offense Felix,” she giggled.

“None taken because she’s not my girlfriend,” he said with a straight face.

“See? I told you Kim!”

“Aww,” Rose started. “It’s such a cute picture though.”

No one noticed Felix’s hand twitch. The rest of them chattered away to each other while Claude walked over to Bridgette and Melodie’s table. Felix followed.

“Hey girls,” Claude greeted them.

“Heeyy Claude,” both girls greeted back simultaneously.

“Good morning Felix,” Bridgette greeted.

“Sup Felix,” Melodie smirked.

He let out a sigh, “Good morning.”

“Are you feeling any better?” Bridgette asked curiously.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he lied. The look on her face indicated that she knew he was lying but accepted it anyways.

She changed the subject, “So who’s the girl on the cover. She’s pretty cute.”

Claude spoke up, “I already asked. No one important apparently. Just an acquaintance he says.”

“Really?” Melodie looked at him suspiciously. “Looks like more than a friend to me. Not a girlfriend obviously, but still more than a friend.”

“Mel, be nice,” Bridgette continued. “Anyways, that’s too bad. You two look good together.”

Felix felt something in his chest drop. “Like I said, she’s no one,” he said with a rough tone, walking away to his seat.

“Felix!” Claude went after him to their table. Felix ended up drowning out the sound of Claude’s voice. He didn’t look at him. He knew Claude was talking to him, but he wasn’t paying any attention to what he was saying. Thankfully, Ms. Bustier walked in making everyone quiet down, including Claude.

As class went on, Felix tried to channel his frustration. He looked over at the girl’s table. He noticed it looked like Bridgette had shrunk in her seat a little. He was starting to feel a little guilty. He was just so…tired.

*****

Melodie’s eyes kept looking over at her friend. _What the hell is his problem?_ She disliked anyone who made Bridgette upset. Just when she was starting to see the good side of Felix, it dropped back down low. She let out a sigh because she knew she had to get along with him either way. He was still Claude’s friend.

She noticed something white on the table being passed to her. Bridgette wrote her a note. She took it and read:

 **B:** Did I say something I shouldn’t have???

Melodie looked over at her. Bridgette had a small grimace on her face. She wrote back:

 **M:** No. You did NOTHING wrong. He’s probably just in a bad mood. Don’t worry too much about it.

Bridgette took the note back. She felt a little bit better but still not enough. There wasn’t much else either of them could do.

*****

Claude felt conflicted. He had already scolded Felix earlier, even if he didn’t get much of a response back. He was hoping the four of them could have a peaceful lunch today, him sitting with Melodie, Melodie still sitting with Bridgette, and Felix sitting with him. Just because he was with Melodie now, didn’t mean he was going to single out his other friends, but now that Felix was in a bad mood and made things awkward, he doubted the girls would want to sit with them.

He let out a sigh. This wasn’t going to be easy.

*****

Even if Melodie said it was fine, Bridgette still felt the need to apologize to Felix. She was trying to think back to what she could have said to set him off like that. She felt she should have been more considerate and figured he was probably still in a bad mood from yesterday.

 

Lunch time came around and Bridgette was relieved. She was feeling hungrier than usual. As people were getting up to leave, Melodie looked over at her.

“Claude texted me during class that we don’t have to sit with them if you’re still feeling uncomfortable Bri,” Melodie said with a questionable look on her face.

Bridgette let out a small sigh, “No, that’s alright. I’m gonna go apologize to Felix.”

“I still think you have nothing to apologize for, but I get it if it makes you feel better.”

Bridgette smiled and stood up. It was Melodie’s turn to let out a sigh before she got up as well and followed her friend. Before Bridgette could take another step, Melodie grabbed her hand.

“Wait, what about not being close to Felix? That note?” Melodie asked with a worried look on her face.

It was impossible for Bridgette to forget about that. However, “I know, but I can’t leave things the way they are. We’re all finally getting along and stuff. Plus, I feel bad for avoiding him. He’s not the one who wrote it.” After seeing Felix’s neck yesterday, Bridgette felt like he needed to be around friends, if he sees them that way anyways.

Melodie let out a sigh, “Alright.”

They continued their way to Felix and Claude’s table. The boys were talking about something but immediately hushed and turned to the girls approaching them.

 “Um, Felix?” Bridgette started. She started to feel nervous. “I-I wanted to apologize for earlier. If I offended you in any way, I-I’m sorry,” she folded her hands in front of her as she apologized. She couldn’t stop fidgeting with her fingers.

Felix’s face went from straight to a small grimace. “There’s no need for you to apologize. I was the one at fault. I’m sorry if I upset you,” he said in a soft, apologetic voice.

Claude, Melodie, and Bridgette were a little surprised. Usually, Felix’s voice sounded stern and serious.

Bridgette felt her face heat up a little as she shifted her gaze to the floor. “It’s okay.”

It was quiet for about five seconds before Claude clapped his hands together. “Well, now that that’s settled, what do you say we all go eat because I am starving,” he said with a huge grin.

“Same here,” Melodie responded. “Let’s meet up in the cafeteria in a bit while Bri and I go grab our lunches from our lockers. Okay?”

The boys nodded in agreement as the girls left the classroom first.

Lunch went by smoothly. Claude did most of the talking like always, Melodie and Bridgette talked here and there, and as always, Felix did most of the listening.

*****

As the bell rang for everyone to return to class, the four of them started packing up their stuff.

Felix didn’t have much out so he was done before the others. He looked over at Bridgette who was still packing her things. He couldn’t help but notice how long and dark her hair was. As she finished packing her own bag, it finally hit him.

“Wait! Bridgette!” Felix called out to her, reaching into his pocket.

“Hm?” Bridgette whipped her head up to him at the sudden call of her name. “What’s wrong?”

Felix pulled out the long, red, silky ribbon he’s been having in his pocket all morning. “I have been meaning to give this back to you for quite some time.” He held out the ribbon to her in his hand, neatly folded. He made sure the monogram was facing up so she could see the letter _B_.

Bridgette’s eyes grew wide as she gasped and took the ribbon out of his hand. “Where did you find this!?” Small tears started to form at the edge of her eyes.

“I found it in front of the school,” he began to explain.

“How did you know it was mine?” She asked, still not looking away from her ribbon.

“I think I remember seeing something like this in your hair before? I saw the B on the edge and figured it was yours.”

She finally looked up at him. She struggled for a few seconds, trying to find the right words to say, but she couldn’t. She jumped and swung her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much!” She cried in gratitude.

Felix ended up bending forward, towards her because of her height. He was in a moment of shock at the sudden hug before he could grasp the situation. “I-It was no problem. I was just returning it to its owner is all.” He held his arms out to the side, not knowing what to do with them. He felt his face heat up a little in embarrassment. Or was it from the warmth of her arms?

Bridgette released her grasp on his neck. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! Anyways, um, thank you again for returning it,” she smiled. The warning bell rang. “We better get to class you guys,” she said turning to Melodie and Claude. She started walking towards their class before the others could react.

“Uh, yeah,” Melodie replied before she followed Bridgette.

As the girls disappeared out of the boys’ visions, Claude walked over to Felix who was still in a bit of shock, frozen in an awkward pose. He waved a hand in front of Felix’s face, trying to get his attention. “Felix, you alright man?”

Felix snapped out of it and recomposed himself, fixing his shirt and tie. “Yes, I’m fine,” he replied, not looking at him.

Claude smirked at his friend while Felix tried to not notice it.

Felix did his best to ignore everyone in school throughout the rest of the day. The stares never stopped. He saw maybe two more girls faces that looked like they had cried, although he can’t fully assume it was about him, and he received a few praising words from some of the male students complimenting him on his new ‘girlfriend.’ Goosebumps ran down his back at the word each time. Luckily, he managed to get through the rest of the day with no incident.

 

 

Every day after school, it was the same. He helped oversee the preparations for his father’s upcoming fashion show. Although, he saw no point in being around because he has no input on it. His father just thought it would be a good learning experience for him. He tried on his suit multiple times for the perfect fitting. The rest of the week went by smoothly. By Friday, he was starting to feel numb in his mind, and body.

*****

Bridgette felt like the week went by quickly and smoothly. She managed to not mess up anything or make anyone else upset, that she knew of anyways. Things have been a lot better since Tuesday. She was happy to have her ribbon back and thought it was so sweet of Felix to return it.

As well, she managed to avoid the week without finding anything else in her locker. Maybe things were looking up? Maybe the stalker focused her anger on that girl Felix was seen with? It felt wrong to find relief in the thought, but she figured the stalker couldn’t touch the rich young lady. That girl was safe compared to her. Everything about her looked better compared to her…

__________________________

Saturday morning finally came around. Bridgette grabbed a sweater and went up to the balcony above her room. She made sure to close the door behind her so Tikki wouldn’t get out again. She leaned along the railing and watched the sky for a little bit. She looked down at the streets and could see they were filled with people shopping, running errands, and buying multiple Halloween themed items. She lost count of how many Halloween cakes and cupcakes her parents baked towards the end of the week. The shop was so busy yesterday evening that even Melodie had to help a little.

Speaking of Melodie, she should be coming over by noon. She wanted to be at Bridgette’s house early to be extra prepared and make sure they had everything. Bridgette continued to stare out into the city until her friend arrived.

*****

Felix’s morning was more hectic than usual. People were running around everywhere, carrying multiple items in their hands. The models were stressed out, having to run through multiple rehearsals throughout the week. His father was very critical of Every. Little. Detail. Nothing went by, through, in, or out without his approval. Felix felt useless but mostly bored just standing around and watching.

 _Why am I here again?_ He thought to himself.

The day went by slowly, but before he knew it, it was around 5pm already. Claude had been sending him pictures every now and then, asking for his opinion. They were mostly of his suit and his mask he was going to wear to the dance. Felix let out a sigh. He admitted he was a little jealous. He’s never been to a school event before, but he’s been to hundreds of fashion events growing up. Should he have tried to go? Then his father would probably just tell him it was a waste of time.

*****

Bridgette and Melodie were halfway done with their hair and makeup. Bridgette braided Melodie’s hair into a low bun and curled her bangs to the side. For Bridgette, Melodie helped curl her hair, braiding the sides of her hair to the back into a half up-half down look.

It was nearing 6 o’clock. Bridgette had ordered Tikki to stay in her bed while her and Melodie changed into their dresses. They tried on the dresses multiple times throughout the week. Melodie especially because she felt like something would go wrong if she didn’t try it on repeatedly. She was especially nervous to how Claude would react.

Bridgette was a little jealous she didn’t have a date, but happy her friends had mutual feelings for each other. She almost asked Nathaniel to go as friends, but thought it would be too awkward. She thought back to her dream she had earlier that week, the one with the mystery man calling out to her. Maybe her dream was predicting the future? _We’ll just have to see later._ She thought to herself.

As her finishing touch, Bridgette tied a long, red ribbon around her neck. She tied the bow towards the back of her neck. It was about the same style as her special ribbon. She thought about wearing it tonight, but was afraid she would lose it again.

The girls helped each other fix their dresses and slipped into their shoes before putting on their masks.

“I bet these shoes will kill us by the end of the night,” Bridgette joked.

“I hope so. Then we’ll know this was all worth it,” Melodie giggled.

Their masks had arrived in the mail during the week. Bridgette’s mask was bright red of course, while Melodie’s mask was a deep purple. The masks were plain so they could customize them personally. Bridgette added a couple of black rhinestones to hers while Melodie added gold ones to edge of hers.

It was later in the evening when they were finally ready. “Anything else?” Melodie asked.

“No, I think we’re all set.” Bridgette looked down at her phone. “We should get going. It’s 6:30 already and I don’t walk very fast in heels,” Bridgette replied before laughing at her own comment.

They grabbed their phones and headed downstairs. Bridgette left her door a little open so Tikki could come and go as she pleased from the room. Melodie was grateful to Bridgette for sewing in pockets into their dresses. They blended in so well to the naked eye. They can carry their phones without ruining the look of their dresses.

They went down to the bakery to show Bridgette’s parents before they started walking to the school. Her parents were in awe of the both of them. And not just them, there were a few customers in the store who were also in awe of the girls’ dresses. Bridgette felt so embarrassed and shy, while Melodie struck several poses as Bridgette’s father took several pictures.

 

 

The girls were finally on their way to the school. Over the weekend, they bought some thin cardigans to wear over their dresses because the nights were getting cooler.

Bridgette’s dress stayed strapless; however, she redesigned the skirt part of the dress to hug her body instead. She added a red, sheer overlay skirt at the hip that opened in the front, and flowed to the back, down to the floor creating a long tail and a hi-lo effect. At the top of the dress, she made swirl patterns out of the black rhinestones around the chest and back. She was really into the ladybug pattern.

Bridgette had a tougher time helping Melodie with her dress. Melodie kept wanting to return the dress, but Bridgette had to keep reminding her to be patient. Bridgette had to cut a little more material from the purple dress so that it could hug Melodie’s body just like hers does. She cut off a whole layer of one of the golden sheer fabrics from the “magical disaster” dress that was in her closet. They dyed a third of the gold fabric using multiple purples to almost match the color of the dress. They left the rest of it gold and had to wait overnight for it to dry.

Bridgette attached the new colored fabric over the dress and made it into a long skirt. So that it wasn’t copying her dress, Bridgette had the skirt open to the right side of Melodie’s legs. The skirt dropped down to the floor, like a gown, with a little extra room to be lifted with the heels. Melodie added some of her golden rhinestones to the lace high-neck part of the dress for a finishing touch. She was in love with her new purple and gold dress. It was a very long weekend.

 

 

As they were walking up to the sidewalk in front of the school, the entrance was filled with other students walking in. Most of the boys wore plain black and white suits, while you could see almost every shade of the rainbow from all the girls’ dresses.

Bridgette asked if Melodie was meeting Claude at the front or inside, but she told her he still had something to do before he met up with them.

*****

The music was loud, and the lights on the runaway were so bright you couldn’t see the other side of them. All the models had the same look on their faces, and his father’s designs were great as always.

Felix couldn’t be any more bored. He stood up and excused himself to the restroom to get away for a few minutes. He looked at himself in the mirror and could see how bored he looked. He let out a sigh before his phone started ringing.

He grabbed his phone and saw that it was Claude calling him. “Hello?” he answered.

_“Hey, what are you up to?”_

Felix let out a heavy sigh before answering. “I already told you I wasn’t going many times that it could actually be my catch phrase by now.”

 _“You sure sure? Because I already picked you up a cool mask in case you changed your mind,”_ Claude chuckled over the phone.

“Well you can go ahead and return it because I’m not going. I have other business to take care of tonight.”

 _“You mean sucking up to a lot of rich people? Yeah, sounds fun,”_ he teased. _“Well, there seems to be no use trying to convince you anymore. I gotta go. See you at school.”_ And with that he hung up.

Felix let out another sigh. He felt a headache coming his way but he knew he was going to have to put up with it for the night.

Felix walked out to join the rest of the crowd. He talked to several businessmen, talking up his father like always. As he made his way through the crowd, he noticed a small person approaching him. It was Alice Duet.

“Hello Miss Duet. How are you this evening?” Felix tried to sound as courteous as possible.

“Hello Felix,” she smiled. “I’m fine this evening. How are you?” She asked back.

“I’m fine as well.” _I’m bored out of my mind,_ he thought to himself.

“That’s good to know. It seems your father outdid himself tonight. I love every outfit so far,” she said as she clasped her hands together. “Is your suit another one of his creations? It’s marvelous!” Alice complimented as she took a better look at him.

Felix looked down at himself. His suit was a deep black from his collar, to his tie, to his pants and socks, to his shoes. “Thank you. It’s one of my favorites from this year so far,” he replied as he fixed his cuffs before feeling a random vibration coming from his pocket.

It surprised him enough to make him twitch a little in his place. He wanted to ignore it assuming it was Claude again, but it wasn’t a phone call but instead a text. He sighed and pulled out his phone because it could be anyone. Felix looked at Alice for moment before saying, “Excuse me,” to look at his phone. She was nice about it to let him answer his phone but stayed where she was in front of him.

Felix opened the text message that turned out to have a picture inside instead of text. Claude had sent him a group pic with Melodie, and Bridgette. They all had masks on. Claude’s was a dark blue that matched his suit, Melodie was wearing her purple mask and had on her usual smirk that looked ready to tease him, and Bridgette looked as if she was glowing. He could see her red mask clearly, and she was wearing her bright smile that looked all too familiar. Red was definitely her color, he thought to himself.

 His mind went blank staring at the photo, feeling a hint a jealousy that he couldn’t be there until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He snapped out of it and looked up to Alice tapping his shoulder.

“Are you alright Felix?” She asked with a curious look on her face. “You were staring at your phone not saying anything for a while. Is everything okay?” Before he could even reply, she was already hovering over his phone. “Who are those people? They look adorable,” she giggled.

“They’re my friends from school,” Felix automatically said before he could stop himself. Friend _s_. As in plural, as in more than one, he thought to himself. He’d never thought he would use that word to describe more than one person.

“What are they wearing? Halloween costumes?”

“My school is having a dance where you can wear a mask if you want,” he answered.

“Oh, looks fun. How come you aren’t there?” She asked before bopping her head with her hand, “Oh, well that was a dumb question,” she nervously giggled, her face turning bright red.

“It’s alright,” he replied putting his phone back into his pocket.

“You know,” Alice started, “You become a bit friendlier since the first time I met you. N-not that I’m saying you’re u-unfriendly,” she began to become a bit flustered. “I-I just mean that, you were a lot more talkative the second time I met you compared to the first time, is all.” She put her hand up to her cheek, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t mean to insult you or anything.”

“I didn’t notice really. I feel the same.”

“I don’t mean to step out of line by saying this, but the look on your face a few minutes ago says something else.”

Felix opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He didn’t know how to respond to that statement. Alice just stared at him waiting for him to say something.

The two of them stared at each other for about a minute without saying anything until Alice felt her face heat up, “W-well, I should probably go find my father. It was a pleasure talking to you again Felix,” and with that, she went about her way to the opposite side of the venue. Felix continued to stand there, staring in the direction she left in, still not able to say anything.

He finally regained his composure when he felt a strong tap on his shoulder, and heard an all too familiar, deep voice. Felix turned his head to find his cousin Adrien.

“Hey Felix,” Adrien said as he smiled like the model he is.

*****

“Oh my god, I love this song!” Melodie shouted loud enough for Bridgette and Claude to hear. The three of them had been dancing for almost an hour and a half that they had to finally stop and grab a few drinks.

The whole school looked like they were having fun. There were a lot of students with masks, some without, and many who combined their outfits to look like costumes. Bridgette’s favorite so far is Rose’s dress. She was wearing cute, pink, little butterfly wings and a butterfly mask. Kim and Alix thought they were too cool to wear a mask. Max tried but his glasses got in the way. Mylene’s mask was mixed with colors to match her hair. She didn’t see Nathaniel anywhere, Juleka was most likely somewhere else in the back.

Bridgette knew it was soon that she would have to give Melodie and Claude some alone time when the slow dances come in. She promised Melodie in secret to take pictures of them for later. She looked around the room, maybe trying to find a loner to dance with later, but almost everyone were already grouped in couples so she continued dancing with Melodie and Claude until Claude excused himself to take a phone call.

*****

“So how have you been?” Adrien asked as he took Felix in for a big hug.

Adrien was one of the few people Felix let get close to him. “I’ve been fine. Same old same old.”

“Hey, it’s me. You can talk to me,” Adrien said as he smiled. “So? Who was that cute girl you were talking to just now?”

“Her name is Alice Duet,” Felix replied, ignoring the ‘cute’ comment.

“Duet’s daughter? I haven’t heard that name in a while. Is she nice?”

“Yes, she’s nice. That’s all.”

“Just nice? Nothing else?” Adrien asked with a mischievous grin.

“Yes, that’s all,” Felix replied, raising an eyebrow at his cousin.

“Alright, if you say so,” he chuckled lightly. “So, I heard from my father you started attending public school this year. How is that going?”

“It’s fine. Sometimes a little troublesome, but not too bad.” Felix thought the school itself was fine, but had another opinion about the students.

“Any luck with the ladies? Or do you still not like girls?” Adrien elbowed Felix lightly on his arm.

“Luck? More like bad luck. They can get a little carried away at times that it feels like I have to escape from a cage.”

“What happened? Did the good looks that runs in the family get you in trouble?”

“I don’t know about that but I do run into trouble from time to time. There’s a dance at my school tonight and you can already imagine how my week went,” Felix said as he let out a sigh.

“Wait, there’s a dance at your school going on right now and you’re here?” Adrien asked in a surprised voice.

Felix nodded. “You know my father. I have to help represent the family.”

“Don’t you have any friends that invited you or something?”

“Well, I do have this one friend that has bugged me nonstop about going. He even said he bought me a mask.”

“Oh, so you did make friends!” Adrien smirked. _Crap._ “Do you have a picture? Can I see what they look like?”

Felix let out another sigh before pulling out his phone. He showed his cousin the one Claude had sent him a few minutes ago.

“Wow, they look fun. I really think you should have went. You’re only live your youth once, you know. What time does it end?”

“I don’t know, 11?” Felix was starting to feel a hint of regret not going, but how would one even bring up a subject like that to a father like his?

“I know your dad can be on the…strict side, but what do you want to do?” Adrien asked firmly.

Felix took a minute to think about it. He looked back at the picture on his phone, not noticing the way Adrien smiled. Before he could say anything, Adrien was already dragging him out the room, and out the building. He was on the phone with someone, but he didn’t know who.

When they reached outside, Adrien suddenly asked, “Oh, by the way, who is that girl in the red?”

“Red?” Felix asked with a confused expression.

“The one on your phone?”

“Oh, her name is Bridgette. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. She just looks like Mari is all.”

“Mari? Really?” He pondered the thought. “Oh, how are you and Mari? I forgot to ask.” Felix remembered how his uncle freaked out when they found out Adrien had started dating her. Adrien’s father wanted him to be with someone who already had money or at least some power. Of course, they must keep it on the down low for now because they don’t want bad rumors to spread. Felix knew how much she meant to his cousin. Adrien had never looked so happy when he wasn’t talking about her.

“She’s great, and gets prettier by the day,” he smiled. “Your friend looks a lot like her, almost have the same eyes. I’ll ask Mari next time I see her if she has a cousin or something attending your school.”

Felix wasn’t sure but let it go. “So, what are we doing out here?” Just as he asked that, a black car pulled up.

“You, sir, are going to that dance. Just think of me as your fairy godmother for the night.” Adrien opened the car door and held it open for Felix.

“What?!” Felix took a step back in shock.

“I’ll tell your father you weren’t feeling well and that I’m taking you back to my place for the night because it’s closer. Now get in before I throw you in Cinderella.” Adrien grabbed Felix’s arm and pulled him into the car. “You can thank me later. I’ll pick you up around 11. Have fun!” And with that, Adrien’s driver made off with Felix after being given the location.

*****

“Wait, repeat that last part. You’re coming?!” Claude asked a little too loudly. He went out into the hallway to answer a phone call from Felix. He almost thought he was dreaming since he was rejected over and over. Felix had given Claude a brief update over the phone. Claude then went outside to go meet him.

“Sooo? This is it?” Felix said as he stepped out of the car.

“I can’t believe you’re here!” Claude ran over to give him a hug. “And what do you mean this is it? You gotta go inside to see it! The decorations are amazing! And I know I only sent you a picture of our faces, but you have got to see the girls’ dresses. They’re really great.”

“Nice mask,” Felix let out a small chuckle.

“Thanks,” he laughed back. “Nice suit, very fancy I must say sir, and very black I might add.”

Felix looked down at his suit. “Thanks.”

“It’ll match your mask nicely,” Claude grinned.

“My what? You have it with you?”

“It’s in my locker,” he chuckled. “Come on, let’s put it on you.”

“No thanks, I’m oka—y,” Felix was caught off guard when Claude grabbed his arm and pulled him up the stairs inside, and to the boys’ locker room.

*****

What is with all the dragging today? Felix asked himself.

Claude opened his locker to reveal a black mask. “Ta-da!” Claude pulled out the mask and held it up. “See? It matches.”

Felix took the mask into his hands. It was plain black with a black string. He took a closer look at it. “Are these tiny cat ears on the mask?”

“Yup! I thought it would suit you nicely. It is Halloween after all,” he smirked.

Felix looked at the mask curiously. “Well, black is my color,” he said trying on the mask. “How does it look?”

“Mm, here.” Claude started to run his fingers through Felix’s hair. He fixed it to wear the black string ran under instead of over his hair. “Go look in the mirror.”

Felix walked up to the mirror. Claude had spread out his hair a little, giving him a bit of a wild look. His bangs were looser like the rest of his hair. The mask looked pretty good on him. “It fits,” was all he could say.

“I knew it would, and Felix, for tonight, just relax. Remember, the most important thing is to have fun,” Claude smiled. “Now let’s go!” he said as he led the way out of the locker room.

When they walked into the dance room, Felix had some trouble taking in everything at once. The music, the people, the decorations. It had a different feel than any event he went to with his father in the past. “Wow,” was all he could let out.

“There you are!” Melodie walked up to Claude. “We were wondering where you ran off to.” She smiled at him before turning to Felix. She had a curious look on her face. “Who’s this?”

“It’s Felix,” Claude chuckled in a low voice. Felix had told him earlier that he didn’t want to draw too much attention to himself.

“What!?” Melodie held her hand up to her mouth. “Wow, I almost didn’t recognize you. But then again, who else would have a suit that fancy?” She chuckled.

“Where’s Bridgette?” Claude asked. Felix felt himself tense up a little. He started to feel something weird in his stomach. He assumed it was because he hadn’t really eaten much today.

“She’s getting a drink,” she replied. About 2 seconds later, the music went quiet. Everyone turned to the DJ.

_Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Juleka Couffaine to the stage!_

Everyone started to applaud.

*****

The punch was good tonight, Bridgette thought. She was lucky that her dress was red so if she spilled anything, no one would notice. She couldn’t help but smile to herself.

The DJ began speaking before he introduced Juleka to the stage. Bridgette thought she looked so pretty in her purple and black gown. When Juleka began singing, Bridgette thought she sounded so beautiful. She looked around and noticed everyone had formed into couples. She figured Melodie and Claude were already together somewhere on the dancefloor. _I’ll just stand here and enjoy my punch,_ she thought to herself. Sure, she didn’t have a date, but it wasn’t too bad, she could focus on Juleka’s singing.

As she was looking up towards the stage, she noticed a tall, black figure walking up to her. She couldn’t help but think he looked familiar.

“Hi,” the boy in black greeted.

She took a small step back from the surprise of his presence, tripping over her heels. She braced herself for the fall until the boy caught her. His grip on her lower waist felt steady and strong. She turned to the cup she was holding, or wasn’t holding anymore. While his left hand was on her back, the other one caught her cup. He was quick on his feet, she’ll give him that.

“Are you alright?!” He asked, looking panicked.

His voice was deep but sounded familiar. “Y-Yes!” She replied a little too loudly. _Oh god I’m so embarrassed!_ He helped her forward, giving her balance back. “Th-Thank you,” she said, looking down at her dress, checking to make sure she didn’t rip anything.

“That could have been messy,” he said, placing the cup down on the table. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 _How is he so calm when I’m freaking out?!_ “Yeah, that could have been messy,” she replied looking back at the table as well. _Oh god, is my face red?_ She thought as she placed a hand to her cheek, still not able to look at him.

The music stopped for a few seconds as Juleka finished one song and moved on to another. Bridgette looked up at her and couldn’t help but be in awe of her voice.

“Would you like to dance?” The boy in the black mask asked.

Bridgette whipped her head back to him. Her eyes widened at the sudden question. _What? Oh my god, what do I do? Do I say yes? Do I turn him down gently? Oh my god!_ Bridgette kept asking the same questions over and over in her head, until the boy in the black mask gave her a small smile and held out his hand to her. She gasped a little as she remembered the dream she had earlier that week. Her thoughts became silenced as she reached out and grabbed his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to end it right here! This chapter was already reaching 17 pages! (I'm not a big fan of how I wrote this chapter, but I wanted to get this out there!) Please look forward to the next one!


	21. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Down memory lane we go and things get a little deep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the wait!
> 
> Also, I know the lyrics don't match the mood, but I thought of Juleka singing "Lies" from Marina and the Diamonds. I just like the sound of it and can picture them dancing to it.

**_Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Miss Juleka Couffaine to the stage!_ **

“Doesn’t Juleka look amazing up there?” Melodie gushed as she placed a hand over her heart.

“I didn’t know Juleka could sing,” Claude commented.

“Well I never really heard her myself but she must be good if they offered her a spot on stage,” Melodie replied.

When Juleka began singing, the rest of the crowd formed into couples.

Melodie was in awe of Juleka’s voice. She looked to her date, “Let’s go dance Claude,” she smiled at him.

“Weren’t we waiting for Bridgette?” Claude replied, not taking the hint.

Felix however, managed to pick up on it. “It’s alright, I’ll go find her. You two go on ahead.” Before he began walking away, Claude grabbed him by the shoulder. “What is it?”

Claude smiled at his friend, “Remember what I told you, just have fun and try to relax.”

Felix nodded and smiled a little at him, “Thanks.” Claude let him go and Felix headed on over to the refreshment’s table. Felix crossed through the dance floor in search of Bridgette. _She’s too short to look for in this crowd_ , he thought before chuckling lightly in his head. Bridgette would probably bite off his head if she heard him say that.

Felix still can’t quite put into words what kind of person Bridgette was. She comes off as nice but would probably put you in your place when needed.

The first time he ever saw her, he was walking down the school’s hallways for the first time. She was with some of their female classmates and a few other random girls trying to get a better look at him at school. He thought she was just another annoying fan and never really talked to her at the beginning of the year. The first time he officially talked to her was when she jumped out of nowhere and crashed into him that one morning.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Felix’s driver had just dropped him off at the side entrance of the school. There’s no one over here. I should come this way more often, he thought to himself. As he walked up the path towards the school, he heard some noises behind the bushes and trees. He looked to his side and out from over the bushes she jumped at him. He didn’t know whether to run away or catch her. His late reaction caused her to crash into him._

_“Aaahh!” She screamed._

_“Agh!” He couldn’t help but yell as they both fell to the ground, him catching her fall. Surprisingly, this wouldn’t be the first time a girl jumped at him._

_“Oww!” The girl cried out. “Oh my god, I am so so so so sorry! Are you okay?” The girl began to apologize._

_Felix looked up at her before realizing it was Bridgette from his class. Several things ran through his mind: his butt was in pain, how did a girl so short and light bring him down to the ground? Is this what her voice sounds like?_

_When she finally opened her eyes to look at him, they widened at the realization it was him she crashed into. “Felix! Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”_

_He looked into her eyes. He didn’t realize how blue they were, but then the pain in his lower back came back and he began to feel irritated. He shot an annoyed look at her, “I will be once you get off of me.” He began to pull away from her._

_She immediately got off of him and stood up, “Oh, right, I’m sorry!” She frantically apologized again. “Here, let me help you up,” she offered him her hand._

_He refused her help. No need to keep touching, he thought. “No need. I can get up by myself.” As he stood up, he began, “First, you all keep making crowds around me, and now you’re jumping at me out of nowhere. Honestly, can’t you people take a break?” He looked at her and noticed her face shifted from being worried to looking annoyed. He didn’t care, he was already irritated himself._

_She took an inch step closer to him, “First, I said I was sorry!” She started off. “The proper thing to do is accept my apology. And two, if it wasn’t for your little fan club, I wouldn’t have to be taking the long way to practice!” Her face started to flush a little, almost matching her anger. “So before you start -” she continued until she looked at her phone. “Oh no!! I’m gonna be late!” Bridgette then grabbed her bag and ran off inside the school, leaving him there._

_He stared at her as she ran inside. He’s never had a girl tell him off like that before and was left speechless._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Felix never found himself becoming _friends_ with her. Are they friends? Claude considers him a friend. _Melodie_ … _well, we’ll come back to Melodie once I know a little more about her._ _Bridgette?_ Does she consider him a friend? _Now looking back to a few weeks ago, I didn’t exactly make a great impression on her._

He thought back again to that first day they spoke. They had a rough morning with each other, but at the end of the day, Bridgette saved him when the female students started to fight with each other. They managed to apologize to each other in the end and he had a better view of who she was. She was right, he shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.

Then there was the time she lost her cat. Felix could clearly see how much Bridgette loved her. Not only that, from what Claude told him, she also helped him and Melodie get together. He could tell how much she cares for others, but is he a part of that group? Or is she just generally nice to everyone?

As he was reaching closer to the table, he was stopped by some girl in an orange dress and mask.

She grabbed his arm and demanded, “Hey, what’s your name?”

Felix was taken aback. _Where did she come from,_ he questioned. He didn’t want to give away his name so at the last second, he changed his voice a little, making it just a tiny bit higher, “Louis.” _Louis! That’s the best I could come up with?!_

The girl in the orange dress let out an annoyed grunt, let him go, and walked in the opposite direction where he was going. He let out a sigh, _that was close._

Juleka was nearly finished with her first song when Felix was getting closer to where Bridgette was. He stopped in his place to take a few seconds to make sure it was really her. He pulled out his phone to look at the picture Claude had sent him. Her mask and dress matched the ones on his phone. Felix could see the details of her face around the mask and could tell how peaceful she looked as she watched Juleka sing. Claude’s words ran through his mind, _“Have fun.”_ He sucked in and let out a deep breath before walking up to her.

“Hi,” Felix greeted.

Bridgette turned to look at him, her eyes going wide as she took a small step back. She stumbled a little and tripped on her heels letting out a little yelp.

Felix moved fast on his feet in time to grab her and the drink she was holding. “Are you alright?!” He quickly asked.

“Y-Yes!” She confirmed. Felix helped her back in place as she thanked him.

“That could have been messy. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She let out a nervous chuckle, “Yeah, that could have been messy.”

The music stopped for a couple of seconds as Juleka started a new song. Felix stared at Bridgette as she focused on the music. _I guess she really is okay. That was a close one. If she hurt her ankle, she probably wouldn’t be able to dance for a while. Hm, dance?_

“Would you like to dance?” He offered. She whipped her head around to look at him, not saying anything. He held out his left hand and smiled at her, not sure whether she heard him or not.

Slowly, Bridgette grabbed Felix’s hand. He led her out further into the dancefloor. They traveled a few feet, separating themselves from the table. He stopped and turned to look around before looking at her. Everyone dancing had almost the same pose, so he decided to copy them. He pulled the hand he was holding closer to their side, pulling her in a little but not too much. He placed his right hand on her waist, being careful not to go too high or too low.

“Is this alright?” He asked before doing anything else, not wanting to overstep his boundaries.

*****

Bridgette felt like she couldn’t blush any more than she already was. She noticed how much of a gentleman this boy was being and couldn’t help but giggle a little. “Yes, this is fine,” she smiled as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

They moved in small steps to the melody Juleka was singing, Bridgette’s dress swaying back and forth.

Bridgette kept looking at the features on his face, trying to recognize him, but no luck so far. His mask covered a huge part of his face. Then she looked a little further up. “I like the little cat ears on your mask. Are you supposed to be a black cat?”

His mouth gaped a little open as he looked up, not that he could see them anyways. “Maybe? It is Halloween after all.”

Bridgette retracted her head a little as she laughed. She couldn’t help but think the ears were adorable. “Well you sure look like a fancy one. Your suit is amazing by the way,” she said looking at his arm that’s holding her hand. Just when she thought she was finally calming down, she looked to his hand holding hers. She could feel her face heating up all over again. _Oh boy, chill out Bridgette. He’s just a boy, nothing else. A boy with very good fashion taste, but still a boy._

“Thank you, my father designed it for me,” he replied. “But your dress is a lot more beautiful to look at though,” he smiled.

Bridgette felt her chest overflow with a mix of emotions of happiness and feeling nervous. Her face heated up so much she couldn’t look him in the face anymore. She just tried to focus on his black tie as she thanked him for his compliment.

They continued dancing in silence, neither of them knowing what else to say for the moment, just enjoying each other’s company and the music.

*****

“Juleka sure is killing it up there.”

Melodie looked up towards the stage. “She sure is. It’s too bad she was too busy to find a date.”

Claude looked back down at her with a slight confused look. “Is that what she told you?”

Melodie looked back at him. “Yeah? That’s what she told us.” She paused for a moment before asking, “Why?”

“Oh, nothing.” Claude looked away from her and then towards the crowd around them. “Hey, look. It’s Felix and Bridge. They look like they’re having a good time.”

Melodie looked around to where his eyes pointed. She could clearly see Bridgette’s blushing face through her red mask. “Wow, they do look like they’re having a good time.” She paused for a few seconds before adding, “Is Felix smiling?” Her jaw couldn’t help but drop as she took a closer look at Felix’s face. It was small, but it was there.

“Wow, he is!” Claude couldn’t help but get excited. He’s only seen Felix smile maybe less then how much you can count on one hand.

“Who knew the Ice Prince was capable of smiling?” Melodie teased.

“Felix can be nice if you take the time to get to know him,” Claude replied. “Don’t they look good together?”

Melodie whipped her head back to Claude. _Felix and Bridgette? I didn’t even think that was an option,_ she thought to herself before looking down. The words kept repeating in her mind. Then the letter Bridgette found in her locker popped up in her head. “I don’t think it will happen,” she said.

Claude looked down at her, “Why do you say that?” He looked curious.

“I just think they’re two different people is all,” she replied, trying to avoid saying her real answer.

“I suppose, but you’ve heard the phrase _opposites attract_ , right?” He chuckled lightly.

“Yeah but sometimes when you’re _too_ different from each other, conflicts are bound to happen.”

“True,” Claude agreed reluctantly.

The two changed the subject of the conversation and continued dancing.

*****

“Wait, did you say your father designed your suit?” Bridgette felt those words suspiciously repeat in her head.

“Yes? I did?” The boy looked at her with a confused face. “You know my father.”

Bridgette’s eyes fluttered, trying to think clearly. “I do?”

“Yes?” The boy stayed looking confused wondering why every answer is being said as a question. Then he whispered, making sure no one nearby could hear, “ _Gabriel Agreste?_ ”

Bridgette’s mouth flew open, not knowing what to say. All she could muster out was, “Felix?”

Felix quickly put a hand over her mouth, “ _Shh_ , keep your voice down. No one’s supposed to know I’m here.”

Bridgette’s eyes grew wide, his hand still over her mouth. When he finally removed his hand, she asked, “Why are you here? I thought you were at your father’s show? And why can’t we know you’re here?”

Felix let out a small sigh, preparing himself to answer all her questions. “I was at my father’s event, but now I’m here. Claude insisted I come, over and over I might add. Also, no one can know I’m here because the news might spread to my father. He doesn’t know I’m here.”

Bridgette still didn’t know what to say. _I can’t believe I’ve been dancing with Felix this whole time! Felix said my dress was beautiful!_ She tried to keep her face straight but was freaking out on the inside.

“-ette. Bridgette?” Felix called out to her.

Bridgette snapped out of her shock to ask, “Did you know it was me this whole time?”

“Yes?” He answered in the form of a question again. “Claude sent me a picture of the three of you. Didn’t you know it was me?”

“No, I had no idea.” She really didn’t.

There was a look on Felix’s face she couldn’t describe. He didn’t say anything for about a minute or two. Felix looked around, they were the only ones standing still while everyone else kept dancing. “Does that mean you want to stop dancing then?” He asked, not looking at her.

She stared at him, not really knowing how to answer. _Is he mad at me? Does he think I’m mad at him?_ “Do you want to stop dancing?” She asked him back.

Felix was silent for a few seconds before answering, “It’s not everyday I get to do stuff like this. I don’t mind, but I won’t force you to stay.” He answered before looking back at her.

Her eyes met his. She could clearly see he wanted to keep dancing. She looked around and found Melodie and Claude dancing from a distance. They looked like they were still having a good time, so why couldn’t they?

Bridgette felt a sense of guilt. She felt she may have ruined the mood already, or worse, ruined his mood. She tried to think of a way to pick things back. _Felix says he doesn’t get to do stuff like this, but he knows the basics of dancing?_ She thought to herself. In the end, she decided to ask, “I’ll keep dancing if you answer some of my questions,” she smiled.

Felix blinked at her response, making a face like he wasn’t expecting her to say that. “Okay?” He awkwardly answered.

This time, she held out her hand to him. He took it with a little bit of hesitation. It took them a few seconds but they were able to go back to being in sync.

“So, what’s your first question?” He asked curiously.

“Where did you learn how to dance, and how old were you?” Bridgette asked.

“That’s two questions,” he replied.

Bridgette couldn’t help but giggle. She had a feeling he was going to say that.

Felix tilted his head a bit to the side and looked up. “I think I was about 8 years old when my mother signed me up for a couple of ballroom dance lessons.”

Bridgette lightly chuckled at his response. “Ballroom? Eight years old Felix? That sounds adorable,” she smirked. Bridgette didn’t miss the small hint of blush coming into his cheeks as he continued looking away.

Felix cleared his throat a little. “Next question,” he said, still not looking at her.

Bridgette’s smile never faded as she asked, “So I can assume I’m not the first girl you’ve ever danced with?”

“Of course not. How else was I going to learn?”

“That’s true. Was it hard at first or were you a quick learner?”

“I’ll admit, I may have stepped on a few toes here and there.” He cleared his throat, trying hard not to smile or laugh. “How old were you?” He asked, looking down at her.

Bridgette pursed her lips and looked up trying to remember. “I think I was around five years old when my mother put me in ballet classes.”

“Ballet? Really? Can you dance on the tip of your toes and twirl?” He had a teasing and curious look on his face.

“Maaayybe,” she replied mockingly. “Yes, I actually can dance on my toes and twirl. Otherwise the last ten years would have gone to waste,” she smiled teasingly.

“I’ll be honest, that’s amazing.” His face started to express a small smile.

Bridgette felt her face heat up a little. She shifted her head straight ahead, trying not to stare at his face as she thanked him for the compliment.

After about a minute or so, “Hey, Bridgette?” Felix started.

Bridgette looked up at him, “Hm?” The hint of blush on her cheeks were finally fading away.

“I may have been imagining things, but I couldn’t help but feel that for a short time, you were avoiding me? It’s actually been bugging me for a while now. Or was I just imagining it?”

Bridgette stayed silent as she stared at him. She immediately stopped dancing, but never let go of his hand or shoulder. “What?” Was all she could say.

Felix stopped in place as well. He looked like he didn’t know whether to repeat his question or not.

“I – uh – I,” she didn’t know how to answer.

“Back when I still had your ribbon, I tried to give it back to you several times. But every time I tried to speak to you, you looked like you were in a rush to get away. Or was that purely a coincidence and I just had bad timing?” Felix tilted his head a little again, and furrowed his eyebrows as he looked down at her, looking worried.

Bridgette stared into his eyes, not knowing how to answer. She knew she couldn’t tell him the real reason. Could she? But if she told him, would it only burden him? Would he be upset if he found out the two letters she received were because of him and that’s why she’s been avoiding him? Would he tell his father? A man with a lot of power in the city? Would he tell other people? There were a lot of _would he?_ questions going through her head. Felix started to fidget a little in his shoes. She could see the wait was making him nervous.

Felix then looked down at his shoes, still not letting go of her hand or waist. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I –” he started but looked as if he didn’t know how to finish that sentence. He was still fidgeting a little in his shoes.

Bridgette stared at him. “Felix?”

Felix didn’t answer.

She continued, “Do you think of me as a friend?” As she asked, she could see the muscles in Felix’s jaw move around.

“I’d like to think so? I know I haven’t always been kind to you, especially in the beginning. In fact, I never really knew what having a friend was like until I met Claude.” He lifted his head a little, but still didn’t look at her. “In the short time I’ve known you, you seem like the type of person I can trust. You don’t play games or try to use me.”

Bridgette blinked a couple times in a row. She couldn’t believe these words were coming out of his mouth. “You trust me?”

Felix looked up and met her eyes. “I do.”

Bridgette felt speechless. Felix always had a serious face on, but even through his black mask, she could see he was more serious than usual.

**_Ladies and gentlemen, please give Miss Juleka a round of applause!_ **

The crowd around them erupted into cheers and applause. Both Felix and Bridgette jumped in their feet in shock at the loud noise of the crowd. They joined in the applauding of their friend Juleka.

“Do you trust me?” Felix continued, directing his voice towards Bridgette, but not looking at her.

Bridgette looked at him, wondering how to answer. In the short time she’s known him, she already knew what kind of person he was. Felix was a serious person who doesn’t let anyone run over him, but he was also a kind person who won’t hesitate to help a friend. She thought back to the night he helped her find her cat, and the other day when he returned her ribbon. He never threw it away. Also, he admitted he had tried several times to return it to her. And what did she do? She avoided him like a coward and a bad friend.

“Felix,” she called out to him.

The music shifted to something more upbeat, and everyone broke away from couples and begin dancing all around.

Felix had stopped clapping and dropped his hands to his side. He turned his head to her as she called out his name but didn’t say anything.

She smiled at him, “I do trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter wasn't as long as my other ones but I wanted to get it out there! DX But it's been too long since my last update!


	22. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feelings and secrets are poured out.  
> And Felix is a conflicted kitty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 months since I've updated Not You Again. I can't began to tell you how much I want to apologize.  
> Home, work, relationships...it's been a mess.  
> It's been a year since I first started writing Not You Again as well, so there's that anniversary I missed.  
> I cut about 2 pages of this chapter and am already using it for the next :)

The outside of the school looked so different at night. The lamps in the courtyard were turned on, making it easier to see in the dark along with the full moon. There were several groups of kids spread out here and there outside.

Bridgette wrapped her arms around herself, shivering as the wind blew. She forgot how chilly it was at night.

Felix looked over at her. Without saying anything, he had already began unbuttoning his coat, slid it off his back, and wrapped it around Bridgette. “Here,” he said.

Bridgette stopped walking, “No, it’s fine! I don’t need it,” she said waving her hands at him.

“You’re wearing a dress with no sleeves. Take it,” he insisted. “Or should we just go back inside?”

Bridgette looked back at the school. “No, it feels too crowded inside,” she replied. She gave in and begin putting her arms through the black sleeves. The both of them continued strolling around the school. Bridgette couldn’t help but notice how roomy Felix’s coat was. “Thank you,” she finally said. This would be the second time she has worn one of Felix’s fancy coats. Her mind flashed back to the second threatening note she got. She stopped in place. A shiver ran down her back, and not because of the cool night’s breeze either.

“Are you alright?” Felix had also stopped when she stopped. He looked at her, waiting for a response.

Bridgette’s eyes never looked away from the ground when she replied a monotonic, “Yeah.”

“So, will you now explain to me what’s been going on with you? I’m honestly curious,” Felix stated. “And a little worried.”

Bridgette let out a deep sigh and began to fidget with her fingers. “I don’t really know how to talk about it.”

“I’m assuming it’s a very personal matter?” He asked.

“I think that’s what you would call it.”

“But it does have something to do with me? Right?” He continued to ask, not looking away from her.

Bridgette felt herself tense up even more, her stomach went into more knots than before, and her chest was pounding like crazy. “Yes,” she finally answered.

His eyes went from her, to the ground, to the path in front of them, and then towards a nearby bench. “Would you like to sit, or should we keep walking?”

“Yeah, we can sit,” she replied walking ahead of him. He followed.

When Bridgette reached the bench, she slowly sat down, as to not ruin Felix’s coat. Another cool breeze passed so she tightened the coat around her body a little tighter. Felix sat down on the bench, maybe about a foot and a half away from her.

 _How do I tell him? I don’t feel like I thought this through._ She panicked in her head, forgetting about the blonde boy waiting patiently next to her.

About a minute or two passed, “Bridgette?” Felix called out.

Bridgette’s eyes blinked a couple times, snapping her out of her inner panic. “S-Sorry,” she let out a heavy breath.

*****

Is it possible to have your heart beating faster than normal and still be perfectly alive?

Felix may have had a calm expression on his face, but inside he was freaking out. He didn’t know what Bridgette was going to tell him. It obviously wasn’t good news, but he felt he couldn’t go on not knowing what was going on around him. Why was she avoiding him before? Sure, this week they were talking on good terms, they sat and ate lunch together, but what about last week? Anytime he tried to return her ribbon, she would immediately come up with an excuse to walk away from him. He didn’t talk about this with Claude, thinking it was just all in his head, but something felt off the whole time. True, he feels most comfortable when people aren’t bothering him, but it’s different when he could tell someone is avoiding him on purpose.

This may not be the perfect time to ask, but he didn’t know when he’ll get another chance. Hopefully, he’ll finally get to the bottom of it.

Bridgette may have let out the deepest breath he’s ever heard. “Melodie told me that Claude told you about the note I received a while back, right?”

Felix took a pause, “Yes.” He felt his fists automatically tighten up.

“Well, it was a threat letter. In fact, I received two in total…so far.” Felix noticed her hands tighten together.

“Two?” _Two!? When was there a second one!?_ As far as he was told, there was only one. Did Claude fail to mention the second one? Did he know there was a second one? He could only assume Melodie would be the only one to know everything about Bridgette. Felix doesn’t expect her to talk about everything going on in her life, but even so.

“Yeah, two. The second one worse than the first,” Bridgette continued.

“Why worse? What did they say?” Felix shifted his body on the bench, his chest and legs facing her.

Her body stood still, not moving except for the occasional shiver from the cold. Or was it anxiety? She didn’t continue.

“Bridgette,” Felix started, “what did they say?” She still didn’t answer so he continued, “Are they why you were avoiding me? Say something.”

Bridgette let out another deep breath. “Yes,” was all she said as her lips quivered. Her head dropped lower, looking down at her lap. She bit her lower lip and her eyes looked terrified.

Felix went silent. He didn’t know what to say or how to respond. For some reason, he didn’t think she’d actually say yes to that. _What did I do?_ Was all he could think. “What did I do?” He decided to just ask straight out.

Bridgette’s head shot up in his direction. Her eyebrows were furrowed with worry, “No, you didn’t do anything Felix.” She looked back down. “I just have bad luck is all.”

Felix stared at her. “Then what did happen? And this is more than just bad luck.” His heart kept beating faster as the minutes went by, anxious to hear what she’s going to say.

She bit her lower lip. She didn’t look at him as she spoke, “If I tell you, you have to promise you won’t do anything or say anything.”

That wasn’t hard to promise, but, “What about Claude?”

“If Claude asks me later, I won’t lie to him. I’m just not comfortable talking about this stuff in general.”

“I understand. I promise I won’t say anything.”

*****

The room had a lot of bright, colorful lights flashing everywhere. People were smiling, jumping, and moving their arms all over the place. The DJ made sure to keep the room upbeat.

Melodie was having the time of her life. She was still dancing with Claude, and somewhere down the line, Mylene, Ivan, Kim, Max, and Alix joined them.

After a while, she finally looked around her. _Where’s Bri?_ She asked herself. She tried looking all around the room, but there were too many people, and she wasn’t exactly tall either. Felix was nowhere to be seen as well, and he was as tall as Claude.

Melodie turned to Claude and moved closer to his ear. “Hey, where’s Bridge and Felix?”

Claude looked at her before taking a look around the room. “I’m not sure. Maybe on the other side of the room?”

“Hm,” Melodie hummed. “I’m gonna go look around real quick.”

Claude placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure they’re fine,” he chuckled. “But if you’re so worried, you can try texting her.”

Melodie pulled out her phone from one of her dress pockets. Claude’s head pulled back a little, a little surprised that he didn’t notice she had pockets on her dress to begin with. She tapped away on her phone, asking Bridgette where she was. There was no reply for a couple of minutes until Melodie’s phone vibrated in her pocket.

**Bri: With Felix outside**

_Wow, she can handle Felix for so long? Props to her._ Melodie shrugged it off and continued dancing with their friends.

*****

“No, wait Felix!” Bridgette pulled on Felix’s arm, trying to sit him back down on the bench.

Felix was standing, trying to walk away with his left foot forward. He stopped and looked back at her, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth pulled back. “Wait for what? Until you receive another ‘ _note?_ ’” The anger in his voice emphasized on the word.

“No one’s supposed to know!” She cried out.

The note basically told her she wasn’t allowed to snitch. The words only filled him with more rage, his fists shaking. “Then what the hell are we supposed to do? This is because of me!” He stared straight into her eyes, waiting for an actual answer.

Bridgette looked back at him, into his eyes. She honestly had no answer or solution. Her mind was searching for something, but Felix being angry was all she could think about. She’s never seen him this furious, just bits and pieces, but not on this level. “It’s not your fault.”

A strong breeze flew past them, making Bridgette squeeze her legs closer together and her grip on Felix’s wrist tighten.

Felix shifted his body to where he was standing in front of her now. He looked down at her, studying her face. She looked up at him, waiting to see how he might react next.

“Is there really nothing we can do? Nothing _I_ can do?” His voice had calmed down. It was soft.

Bridgette finally let go of his wrist. “I-I don’t know. And I’m too scared to risk anything.” There was another cool breeze that it made her shiver and tighten the borrowed coat around her. She couldn’t look him in the eye anymore.

Felix placed back his right leg and crouched down to where he was now looking up at her. “Bridgette, will you at least let me know if you receive another note in the future?”

Bridgette bit on her lower lip. Tears started welling up in her eyes at the thought of getting another one.

“As far as you told me, you didn’t get anything this week, right?” He asked.

Bridgette couldn’t mouth any words at the moment, so she just shook her head.

“So, does it involve more than just being around me for one to appear?”

She shrugged her shoulders, still trying to fight back the tears. After a minute or so, she managed to say, “Maybe that person is more angry at that girl we saw you with in the news? I don’t know, that’s my theory for now.”

Felix was still staring up at her, his eyes growing wider at the memory of the picture that’s been going around all week. _Ugh, Alice._ He nearly forgot all about it, including even seeing said girl earlier that night. Felix’s eyes shift between Bridgette’s eyes, trying to process everything. Maybe even trying to come up with a solution. But the only solution he could think of, to spare Bridgette and her reputation, was to be more involved with Alice.

His chest became heavy and it felt like there was a huge lump in his throat. Even on this cold night, his face was starting to heat up, and his forehead was starting to form little sweat droplets.

“-ix? Felix?” Bridgette called out.

Felix fluttered his eyes and shook his head a little.

“Are you okay?” Bridgette asked even though her own eyes were a soft shade of pink from the tears she’s been trying to hold back. “I’m sorry if bringing her up made you upset like before.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Felix focused his eyes again on her. _Wait, she’s been going through all this and still has the decency to ask if I’M okay?_ It took him a moment to find his composure again. He stood up and brushed off the dirt from his right knee that was touching the ground. “Bridgette?”

Bridgette looked up at him as he stood. “Yes?”

“I’m going to hope you will be okay, and I’m going to try and make sure that you will be.” He declared as he reached out a hand for her to take.

As if it came naturally to her, she grabbed his hand and stood up with him. “What do you mean? What are you gonna do?” She gasped, “You’re not going to tell anyone are you? I told you that you can’t!” Her grip on his hand tightened.

“No, I will respect that you don’t want to jeopardize anything in your life. I just have an idea is all,” he smiled faintly.

She stared at his face. His mouth was physically smiling, but his eyes weren’t. She wanted to ask more, but didn’t feel welcomed to, so she left it be. Her mind went blank for a bit, trying to think what exactly did he come up with. The night grew colder and the breeze grew stronger, but she didn’t feel it.

Neither did Felix. His body was numb to the cold.

_*CLICK*_

A flash of light surprised the two and took them out of their daze. Both of them turned to the same direction to see a student holding a digital camera.

“You guys look amazing! This will go great in the yearbook. Love the masks too!” The student who had a very dark complexion commented.

Before Felix could ask him to delete the picture that was taken without their permission, the boy was already in a hurry walking away to take pictures of the other students that were outside. He let out a sigh and let go of Bridgette’s hand. “We should go back inside. The others might be wondering where we are.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

The both of them started walking towards the building. Before reaching the door, Bridgette stopped in her place.

“Here,” she pulled off Felix’s coat from her shoulders, handing it back to him. “Thank you for letting me borrow it,” she began, “and thank you for hearing me out.”

Felix turned back to face her, grabbing the coat from her, “It’s no problem, I’m sorry if I forced you to tell me, but thank you for telling me anyways.”

 

The hallways were full of students standing around and chatting about. Streamers hanged from the walls and windows. The two of them were walking in silence, neither of them knowing what to say. As they passed the cafeteria, Bridgette noticed someone alone at a table.

“Is that Juleka?” Bridgette stopped and asked.

Felix took a few steps back to see for himself. “I believe so.”

“Why is she all by herself? I thought she would be with everyone else.”

“I wouldn’t know. Do you want to go ask her?” He held up a hand and gestured for her to go.

“Yeah I will. You can go back and find everyone else, you don’t have to come with me.” She shrugged.

He gave her a slight nod and walked back to the dance room.

*****

“Hey Juleka, you feeling okay?” Bridgette sat at the chair opposite of her.

Juleka’s head shot straight up, surprised by the sudden company. She had just been on her phone, looking at random stuff on the internet. Her mouth had dropped open, but she didn’t know how to respond.

“It’s me, Bridgette. In case you didn’t know,” she giggled. She figured Juleka couldn’t tell who it was under the mask.

“Oh, hey,” Juleka replied softly. “I couldn’t tell, with the mask, and all,” she pointed at Bridgette’s face.

Bridgette let out a small chuckle. “Why are you here by yourself? I would have thought you were with Rose or the others.”

Juleka let out a small sigh, “No, she’s probably with her date, and I would just get in the way.”

“Oh, well you could join us?”

“No thank you, I just feel like being alone right now.” Juleka stared at her hands.

“What’s wrong?” Bridgette could tell there was more to her story.

“It’s nothing,” Juleka shifted her head so her hair covered her face more.

Bridgette stared at her, wondering whether to keep asking or to just let it go. After what she just went through with Felix, she knew how it felt to want to keep things bottled up. It makes you feel safer. However, now she realizes how good it feels to talk things out and let a friend in. She reached over to place a hand on Juleka’s. She looked her straight in the one eye that was visible past her hair, “Is it really nothing?”

Juleka looked up at her. Her lips were pouting and her eyes looked sad. “I like someone, but I don’t think they like me back. I’ve been trying to get over them, but it’s been really hard. And it’s harder to be around them when they like someone else. I don’t know, maybe we weren’t meant to be together.” She looked back down at her hands.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I suppose love can be a difficult thing.” _Not that I would know because I’ve never had it._

“It just hurts.”

“Can I ask who?”

Juleka shook her head. “I don’t wanna say.”

“Well okay, that’s fine. Have you tried telling them how you feel? You know, get it off your chest?”

“No, I’m scared of rejection. I’m scared they won’t like me back, and maybe we’ll never be friends again.”

Bridgette sat up straight, trying to think what else she could say. “Do you really feel like you’re meant to be together?”

“I don’t know, maybe? Or maybe that’s just how strongly I feel.”

“Your emotions are very strong Juleka. I could hear them in your songs.” Bridgette smiled at the memory of how beautiful Juleka sang. “I could feel the love and pain in your heart.” She placed a hand over her chest.

Juleka blushed a little at the compliment. “Thank you.”

They sat in silence for a small moment before hearing footsteps run down the hall.

“Juleka! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Rose ran towards her best friend with her pink dress fluttering everywhere.

Bridgette noticed how tense Juleka’s shoulders got, and how red her face went. _Ah._ She finally put the pieces together.

“Oh hey Bridgette, you’re here too?” Rose’s smile went wider. “Melodie was looking for you.”

“Hey Rose, yeah she texted me. I was on my way back but I decided to rest my feet with Juleka for a bit. These heels hurt after a while!” She chuckled.

“I know what you mean. That’s why I wore flats,” Rose giggled.

The three of them chatted a bit for a few minutes before Bridgette finally decided to say, “Well we should probably head back if Melodie is still looking for me. Plus, I still haven’t danced enough for the night,” she smiled.

Rose giggled and agreed. Juleka looked like she wanted to stay but Rose convinced her to go with them.

 

The three of them entered the dance room. They managed to find their rowdy group towards the center of the room, Rose and Juleka met up with Alix, Kim and Max, and Mylene was making sure Ivan was having a good time. Bridgette found her best friend dancing like there was no tomorrow, and Claude was trying to get Felix out of his comfort zone by grabbing his arms and swinging them left and right. Bridgette couldn’t help but laugh the whole time as she walked towards them.

Felix noticed her first and had a look on his face that cried _help._ That only made Bridgette laugh harder, catching Melodie and Claude’s attention.

“Hey girl! There you are!” Melodie ran up to her and asked in a lower voice, “You okay? Was everything okay when you were with Felix?”

Bridgette smiled, “Yeah I’m okay.” She pulled Melodie in for a quick hug and said, “Come on, we’re not done partying yet.”

Melodie’s face brightened up and the both of them hurried back to the boys, who now look so awkward by themselves because Claude was making Felix his little puppet.

“He won’t loosen up!” Claude shouted over the music.

“Well maybe that’s a good thing,” Melodie started. “A loose Felix means that hell froze over!” She giggled.

Claude and Bridgette couldn’t help but laugh with her, meanwhile Felix’s cheeks became a little pink. Bridgette could see he wanted to laugh too.

Melodie walked up to Claude and pulled him away from Felix, “I thought you were supposed to be my date,” she grinned.

Claude blushed a little and let go of Felix to join Melodie. Bridgette couldn’t help but gush at how cute they looked together.

Bridgette walked up to Felix as he straightened his clothes out from Claude’s man handling. She held out a hand to him, “Be my partner?” She smiled.

Felix paused as he looked to her. He stared at her, looking conflicted. He could dance ballroom dance styles, but not party. However, he couldn’t help but take her hand like she took his earlier that night. His face heated up a little at the memory of them dancing earlier, not really thinking they would be dancing with each other again.

“Don’t worry, just like earlier but with a little more energy,” Bridgette smiled so he would maybe feel a little more comfortable. She took both of his hands in hers and began to move her hips a little. “No one’s looking at us. Try to drown out everyone else. Just move your hips, feet and arms a little and try to match my speed.”

Felix tried to do as she said, but couldn’t look at her in the eyes as he awkwardly moved his body. For now, he stuck to moving his feet and arms a little. They kept at this pace for a couple of minutes until Felix began to become a little more comfortable.

Bridgette tried to keep the conversation going to help distract him a little. “You’re doing better but you still look like a baby horse trying to walk for the first time,” she giggled.

Felix couldn’t help but chuckle at her comment.

“You’ll dance with her but you won’t dance with me Felix? I’m offended,” Claude joked as he and Melodie got closer. “I thought we were friends!” Claude pouted.

Felix continued laughing, “We are but you have a date to entertain.”

“Yeah Claude!” Melodie smiled.

All of them joined in laughter and continued to dance, and whatever Felix’s body was trying to do.

*****

About half an hour went by. Everyone was having the time of their lives.

Bridgette let go of one of Felix’s hands and held up the other as she twirled herself under it.

Felix couldn’t help but be amused at how smoothly she did that. Their loose hands found each other’s again automatically as they kept moving to the beat of the music.

 ** _Attention students,_** the music lowered as Principal Damocles spoke into the mic, **_We will be closing the dance in thirty minutes. You may keep having fun but make sure you have your rides pick you up and make sure you go home safely. Don’t forget classes resume like normal on Monday, so don’t be late! That is al and have a wonderful nightl._**

Bridgette pulled out her phone. “Wow look at the time! Tonight went by so fast!”

Felix pulled out his phone as well. He had received a text from Adrien’s driver that he will pick him up at exactly 11 o’clock out front. Part of Felix was kind of disappointed that the night was going to end soon. He really was having a nice time. In fact, he can’t remember the last time he had this much fun.

“You okay Felix?” Bridgette asked.

Felix let out a sigh, “I’m fine. Honestly, I wish this night lasted just a little bit longer.”

“Yeah,” Bridgette sighed, “me too.” She leaned her head to the side. “I’m sure we’ll have more fun like this in the future.”

“We’re definitely going to the next dance as a group! No buts!” Claude jumped in and wrapped an arm around Felix’s shoulders.

“Agh!” Felix was taken by surprise.

“Will you be going home okay Claude?” Bridgette asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, but first I gotta walk you and Melodie back to your place. You know, just in case.”

“I told you we’ll be fine,” Melodie added in.

“No good,” Claude smiled.

Felix looked at the three of them. He realized all three of them walk to school. He felt a sense of guilt in his chest. “How about I take the three of you home?”

All three of his friends looked at him, not knowing how to answer.

“Are you sure, I don’t want to be a bother,” Bridgette answered first.

“It’s no problem,” he replied.

Melodie decided to say yes to the offer, mostly because her feet hurt too much from her heels. Claude was in because he wanted to feel the rich boy experience.

 

As the night came to an end, kids left in singles, couples, and groups. Felix’s group were one of the first to leave since his ride came right at 11 o’clock.

“Wow, it’s pretty on the inside too,” Bridgette complimented.

“This feels nice. I was going to ask Claude to carry me,” Melodie joked.

“I would’ve too,” Claude chuckled.

On the ride home, the conversations never ended. The girls were first to be dropped off at Bridgette’s house. Bridgette thanked Felix from the bottom of her heart, multiple times, and he appreciated every one of them. Claude was last to be dropped off. He made Felix get out the car so he can properly hug him goodbye. Felix could’ve lived without it, but he took it anyways.

The driver took Felix back to Adrien’s condo. The car felt so empty when all his friends left. His face felt sore from all the smiling he’s done tonight, and he continued to smile a little into his hand. He really didn’t want the night to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this could've been longer, but I use so much dialogue!!!  
> I'll try not to take too long on the next chapter :(


	23. Chapter 20.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathaniel and his mixed emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every now and then I have a little bit of writer’s block with the new chapter. Enjoy this little side chapter while I finish up the next full one :) <3

“Maybe I should just go home.” Nathaniel sulked in the corner while everyone else was having a blast dancing. He only came because his friends asked him to. Dances just weren’t his thing. Plus, he didn’t know how to dance himself.

As he looked around the room, he noticed a bright red figure. A girl with long, dark, curly hair and a bedazzled dress was dancing as if she was floating on clouds. This feeling in his chest was all too well known. From across the room, her eyes looked all too familiar, even from under her mask.

Nathaniel’s cheeks felt like they were on fire until he saw who she was dancing with. He was tall, blonde, and wearing a suit darker than the night. Even though his suit was all a deep black, he somehow still shined under the lights along with her. His chest became heavy.

_They look perfect together. I can’t compete with that._

He tried to walk around the edge of the room to get a good look at his face, but there were too many people getting in the way. Without looking to where he was going, he accidentally bumped into someone.

“Hey! Watch it!”

Nathaniel jumped back in shock. “I’m s-so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going,” he apologized.

The girl in the orange dress gave him a mean look. “Yeah, I’ll say.”

“Y-your dress, it r-really compliments your eyes,” he stuttered, trying to get on her good side.

“Hmph, of course it does,” the girl replied as she placed her left hand to her chest and the other on her hip. “You’re not so bad yourself.” She said as she looked him up and down. “Nice mask.”

Nathaniel blushed a little as he looked down at the floor. “Th-thank you.”

“Wanna dance?” The girl in orange asked.

“What!?”

“I got nothing better to do. Come on,” she grabbed him by the hand and led him out to the dance floor.

“W-wait!” Nathaniel couldn’t get away from her strong grip. One minute he was by himself in the shadows, the next he was under the lights dancing with some random girl.

“You can’t not know how to dance! Come on!” The girl placed his left hand on her hip as she held onto the other.

Nathaniel panicked and just went along with her. After a minute or two, he finally got the rhythm of her dancing down. “Y-you’re a pretty good dancer.”

“I know,” she smirked. “I’m one of the best in the city you could say.”

Nathaniel didn’t know if she spoke the truth or just thought that highly of herself. He didn’t have time to worry about it as he tried his best to keep up with her.

A song or two went by as they discussed generic topics. He felt like he should at least know her name.

“Can I ask what your name is?” He asked curiously.

“Oh? Fallen for me already?” She smirked. “It’s Lila. But I don’t feel like knowing your name because after this night, I’ll probably forget all about this.”

Nathaniel felt like he was punched in the throat. “Why would you say something like that when you’re the one who forced me to dance with you?” He dropped her hand and his from her waist. “At first, I wondered why you didn’t already have a date, but I guess I just got my answer.”

As he took a step back, ready to turn, she spoke, “Hey, don’t walk away from me! Who do you think you are?” She grimaced.

“My name’s Nathaniel, but not like you care. However, you should change your attitude. You’ll never make friends that way.” He continued and walked away from her, never looking back. For a second, he thought he may have heard her say something more but had already stopped listening long ago. Not that far away, he spotted Alix. She was too easy to find.

Alix noticed him as he came closer. “Hey, you okay? Where have you been?”

“I’m tired so I’m going home,” he replied.

“Why so soon? There’s still a lot of time left.” She asked.

He gave a small smile, “It’s just not my thing.” After saying their goodbyes, Nathaniel walked out of the room and out of the building. However, without checking his surroundings as he was too distracted, he found himself in the courtyard.

Before walking right back inside, he noticed a familiar figure in red. Without thinking, he hid behind a pillar. He saw her walking with the same black figure she was dancing with earlier. He recognized Bridgette’s voice all too well as he’s known her for years. Nathaniel tried to focus more on the boy she was with. He was wearing a black mask and he didn’t very well recognize his hair. Until he spoke. It was Felix.

Nathaniel ran back inside when the couple walked further away so he wouldn’t be seen. As he power walked down the hallway, his chest was full of mixed emotions. Confusion, jealousy, sadness, and a little bit of anger. Confused as to why Felix was here at the school dance when everyone knew he wasn’t coming in the first place. Jealous that he was dancing with Bridgette not too long ago and not him. Sad that he couldn’t casually talk to her like Felix could. Angry at himself because he felt like he couldn’t compete with someone like that, even if he tried.

When he finally reached outside the front of the school, all his emotions cleared away. He looked up to the full moon. The brightness of the moon reminded him of how bright Bridgette looked when she was dancing with Felix. He felt his cheeks move into a smile. If she could look that happy, who was he to get mad and ruin it? By all means, she deserved to be happier than she was tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to finish up the next chapter by the end of July. Hopefully by the end of this week! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: arys13
> 
> https://arys13.tumblr.com/


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